


Timeless

by Erinjoy_7



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: F/M, Inspired by The Umbrella Academy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 189,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erinjoy_7/pseuds/Erinjoy_7
Summary: On the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women were pregnant when the day first began.And on that same day, in the same year, at the same hour, you were also brought into this world by a woman who was not pregnant when the day had begun. But no one other than your mother knew that. You were the secret 44th child.By some bit of coincidence, or luck, or even destiny you ended up living across the street from what would become The Umbrella Academy, a school of superpowered kids. As you grew up your mother had one main rule, stay away from the house across the street. But that was a rule meant to be broken and the impact of it would last forever.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Original Character(s), Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy), Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Everyone, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Original Character(s), Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Reader, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy)/Original Female Character(s), Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy)/Reader
Comments: 18
Kudos: 83





	1. Everyone Has An Origin Story

On the 12th hour of the first day of October 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth. This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women were pregnant when the day first began. And on that same day, in the same year, at the same hour, you were also brought into this world by a woman who was not pregnant when the day had begun. But no one other than your mother knew that. You were the secret 44th child.

Your mother was all on her own after she was kicked out of the house by her own parents on her 18th birthday, only a month and a half prior to you arriving. She had found a job working as an in house carer for an old deaf man. She had a room of her own and full usage of the house. For her, the day of your birth was just like any other until it wasn't. It was right after she gave the old man his pills so he could take his mid-day nap she knew something wasn't right. Immediately, she noticed the size of her stomach changing. She was taken aback but she had no time to think about it because immediately after the contractions of labor hit her and she fell to her knees in pain. She knew what was going on even if she didn't know how it happened. She forced herself to stand up and make her way to the bathroom. Turning on the faucet she filled the tub with water and got in. All on her own, with nobody to hear, she gave birth to you.

You came into the world crying just like any other baby would but to your mother those were beautiful sounds to hear. Even if she didn't know how you came into her life she was over the moon to have you. Wrapping you in a nearby towel she promised herself that she would give you all the love in the world since that is something she didn't receive from her parents. On that day the course of her life changed.

A few months after you were born your mother met a nice man from the city only about 2 years older than she was. Immediately they fell in love and soon after they were married. Unlike step-parents in fairytales, your step-father didn't shun you. Quite oppositely, he embraced you with the same love your mother had for you and took on the role of your dad with great joy.

Your father's side of the family came from money and wanting to give you and your mother the best life possible he moved all of you to the city with him into his nice family home. By some bit of coincidence, or luck, or even destiny you ended up living across the street from what would become The Umbrella Academy. When your family was finally settled your mother revealed the secret of how you were born to your father. She discussed the day with him and he remembered the reports of all the other children born under those same circumstances. Seven of which were adopted or more so bought by the man across the street Reginald Hargreeves. The children almost exactly like you. Born on the same day, of the same year, at the same hour. Not wanting any trouble from the man across the street your parents decided it would be best to make sure that Mr. Hargreeves and his children never met you.

As you started to grow up and develop as a person so did your powers. At first, your parents were concerned but nevertheless, they loved you and wanted what was best. They transformed the basement as best they could into a safe place for you to practice and develop the powers that you had and throughout your years they tried their best to help you learn about them more. None of you really knew what you were capable of yet but they wanted to make sure you could learn to control whatever was going on with you.

Around the age of 4, your parents soon came to realize that the seven Hargreeves children across the street were born the same day as you and also had powers. It was hard not to know with all the nannies flying out windows and the crazy sounds coming from the house. Worried about what might happen if the kids or their "father" ever found out about you and your powers they made sure to keep you away from the house across the street. Your parents had set up rules for you to follow as soon as you were able to understand what rules are. First, remember you are unconditionally loved. The second, always try your best/do what's right. And the third, stay away from the house across the street.

You had everything you could ever want and need. A nice house, a loving family, you went to a good private school in the area and were friendly with many of your classmates. If you bat your eyelashes the right way your dad would get anything your heart desired. You truly had a great life, so for some years, you were obedient to the third rule your parents set. But as you got older curiosity started to get the best of you. Your room faced the street looking straight at the forbidden house. Each day that passed you wondered more what was so bad in that house that your parents made a rule not to go there. You had no clue but you would see things. Shapes that look like people. Specifically, you'd see a figure in the window directly across from yours. Granted, the curtains were closed so you could only see the shadow of a figure. You'd hear things as well like a bunch of yelling. And when you were home in the afternoons you could sometimes hear laughter but it would only be for 30 minutes. What was over there? It ate you up inside not to know. One day when you were old enough and your parents decided to leave you home by yourself, you knew you could obey the rule no longer and decided to see what was so bad about the house across the street.


	2. A Break In The Timeline

A timeline break occurs every time someone makes a decision to do something, and today you decided you were going to make a decision of your own. You didn't really think much of your decision but it would change the path of your life. Your parents had told you that they were going to go out for the day to your father's business outing and that they would be back home later that night. Your mom was nervous about leaving you home and kept asking if you were ready to stay home without them.

"Mom I'm 12 years old. I think I can manage myself for a day." You remark

"Oh I know but you're my little baby and I just can't stand how you're growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was holding you in my arms rocking you to sleep." Your mother replies

"I think our little anomaly can handle herself." Your dad comments

"Oh alright," your mom relents "We better get going if we're going to make it there on time. Traffic in this city is such a pain."

Your dad crouches down in front of you and says,

"We're leaving you home today, which is a big responsibility. My cell phone and your mom's cell phone numbers are on the fridge. If there is an emergency call 911 and if you use your powers please don't accidentally destroy the house."

"I promise I'll be responsible!" You reply

Your dad stands back up and heads to the door. You give both your parents a hug before they leave. Right as your mom is walking out the door she says,

"While you're home, promise me you'll remember the third rule"

"I will" You answer

The door shuts and you run to the window to watch as your parents drive away in the family car. You promised your mom that you would _remember_ the rule but you never promised her to _follow_ the rule. You sat in your living room for an hour planning what you would do to satiate your curiosity and also to make sure that your parents didn't come back unannounced. When you felt that the coast was clear you started putting your plan into place. Getting off the couch in your living room you left your house, closed the front door, and walked across the street. You stood outside the gate of the house you lived across from. The huge building loomed over you and you wondered if the need to ease your curiosity was worth it. You built up your confidence and when you felt that the street was clear you entered the gates. You assumed no one saw you since when you looked left and right the street was empty. There was one thing you forgot to do though, you forgot to look up.

**_________________________**

The house you were forbidden from going to was the residence of Reginald Hargreeves. This manor also housed that of the 7 Hargreeves children. For the children, their days were like clockwork. Always on a set schedule, always doing the same things, rarely ever catching a break, little to no fun. At this time of day, the siblings had finished their training and were now solitary in their rooms. They were not allowed to have fun but for one of the Hargreeves children, this was the best part of his day.

Five enjoyed being able to get away from his family, specifically his father. It was the same thing every day. He might've been away from the man but he could hear his voice in his head saying,

"Pathetic, your powers aren't ready yet! They aren't developed where they should be! They're not good enough, you need to work harder."

Five hated that man and he hated the repetition of each and every day, but when he was alone in his room he could do what he wanted. Sitting on his window sill he looked down at the street below him. He looked at all the people walking around, getting to be free, and do what they want rather than what they are told. Granted, he and his siblings would sneak out and go to the donut place not too far from here, but he was still with his siblings. He wanted to meet people outside of his family. He started to worry that if he didn't he might end up like his brother Luther.

He liked looking at the people on the street. Some people he would see once and then never again. Others he would see all the time. You were not an exception. He would see you and your parents all the time when you were entering and leaving your house. The three of you seemed to be really happy together. He wondered what it was like to be in a happy family. Every now and then if he peeked through his curtains he could see across the street into your bedroom window and see you dancing, or playing with toys, or working at your desk. He thought about what life might be like for you, a normal kid with a normal family and a normal life.

And as he sat on his window sill he saw you, the girl who lived across the way, leave your house, cross the street and stand outside the gates of the Umbrella Academy. Five wondered what you were going to do and watched intently. He saw you gaze upon the locked gates in front of you. Were they locked to keep people like you out or to keep him and the others in? He watched as you placed your hand on the metal of the gate. He thought you would try to push and pull on them but in a matter of seconds, you went from the outside to the inside. He rubbed his eyes and when he opened them back up you were gone. He wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Maybe he needed some fresh air. Leaving his room he went and made himself a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich and headed outside to the courtyard.

**_________________________**

Unbeknownst to Five, his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. You entered the premises using your powers. It took a while to figure out what your powers were, as it seemed like it was a whole bunch. When your parents saw them they guessed anything from invisibility to sound powers, teleportation to telekinesis, from a to z your parents tried to comprehend what in the world your abilities were. After some more years and more practice with your powers, you finally figured out what you could do. You had the ability to manipulate molecules, both of your own body and of that of other objects in the world. You were able to change your own molecules so that they would become transparent, you could break yourself apart and reassemble yourself somewhere else, You were able to move through different objects by playing with your molecules and that of the object. You were able to do those things and so much more, but you needed to practice it as it was difficult to do any of the things if you weren't concentrating on it.

After phasing through the gate of the building you focused on making your molecules transparent so no one would see you. Quietly you worked your way around the house and found yourself in a courtyard. You watched as a young boy about your age with dark hair sat on a bench of sorts with a sandwich in his hand. He was about to take a bite out of it when another boy standing in a doorway shouted,

"OOOOH SOMEONE IS OUT OF HIS ROOM! I'M GONNA TELL DAD!"

The boy on the bench throws his sandwich down on his plate and replied,

"You're out of your room too!"

The boy in the doorway started to run away and the sandwich boy ran inside the door after him. Even with all the commotion, you continued to focus on your molecules. You approached the sandwich on the bench and took a look at it. Peanut butter and marshmallow, yummy. You contemplated eating it but you knew someone would realize you are here. Although maybe they would think it was a bird. You go back and forth for a bit but before you could make a decision you are pushed. Tripping over the bench you fell to the ground and when you turned around you saw the sandwich boy looking at you in shock. You lock eyes with the boy and before you think of anything else you exclaim,

"Hey what was that for!"

The boy still looks at you confused and then you realize it. You lost focus on your molecules. You're not invisible anymore. The boy shakes his head a little before saying,

"H-how...How did you-"

Your eyes go wide. Before he could finish you're already up and racing past him.

"WAIT!" he calls out

You look back and don't see him behind you but you keep running. When you turn your head back straight you see the boy in front of you. You try to slow down but it's too late. Crashing into him you both lose your balance and fall to the ground with you landing on top of the boy. The two of you lock eyes before you realize the situation and get off of him. The boy gets up, dusts himself off, and then extends you his hand. Reluctantly you take it and stand up facing him. You look back towards the courtyard and then back at him.

"How about you be a little more reckless next time?" He says sarcastically

"How about you appear a little close next time?" You retort back "How did you get in front of me anyway?"

"How did I not see you when I went to grab my sandwich?" he asks

"Touche" you respond

For a second you both go quiet. He crosses his arms as he gives you a judgmental look. He taps his foot as if he's getting impatient by your lack of words. Letting out a huff you say to him,

"I can do things."

You then raise your eyebrows as if you were saying " _go on, your turn_ "

"I can do things too." he quips

You stand there for a second before sarcastically commenting,

"Alright well this has been fun but I'm leaving."

You try to walk past him but he grabs your wrist saying,

"Wait."

You turn around to look at him.

"Can I at least know the name of the girl who lives across the street?"

You think to yourself for a second before saying,

"As long as you tell me yours."

"Five." He says extending his hand once more

"(Y/N)," You reply taking his hand and shaking in

Five. What an interesting name. After letting go of his hand you start to turn and walk away and approach the gate of the house once more. Before leaving you hear Five ask you,

"Can we do this again sometime?"

You turn your head to look and him and with a smile you reply,

"Perhaps. Also thanks for the sandwich."

You hold up his sandwich before taking a bite out of it. Then without another word you phase yourself back through the gates. Five shakes his head and chuckles to himself before throwing his hands in his pocket and turning back to the courtyard. (Y/N), the girl from across the street, might not be as normal as he first expected but he was still eager to get to know her. When you get back across the street to your home you plop yourself down on the couch. You thought this would be enough to ease your curiosity but now you wanted to know more. And know more you would, because this encounter was just the beginning of the many more to come.


	3. Routines and Rendezvous

Five used to hate his daily routine at home of practicing with his siblings, getting ridiculed by his father, feeling isolated from society, etcetera but that all changed once you came into the picture. After your first meeting, he knew that he had to see you again. It took him a few days to come up with an idea of how to see you again. He watched and waited for you to leave your room for a bit. Scribbling down a note he transported himself to your room and placed the note on your desk before transporting himself back to his room across the street. He sat on his window sill and waited in anticipation of you returning. When you came back he watched as you approached your desk and opened the note. The note read,

_Meet me at Griddy's Donuts tomorrow at 4 pm._

_\- Five_

You looked up from the note and nodded to Five. For the first time in a long time, he was actually excited about something. The next day arrived and although he had to go through his daily routine first he did it without complaint. When practice and schooling were finished for the day he and his siblings were all sent back to their rooms to be solitary until dinner later that night. They were to be quiet, not leave, and have no fun, but that was not something Five was going to follow today. The minute he got back to his room he locked his door and left the house. He jumped through space to get to Griddy's quicker and upon his arrival, he immediately got a booth. It was 3:47 pm. Five sat there anxiously waiting for you to show up. He knew he arrived early but he was just excited. This was truly the first time he had ever been around someone his age who he wasn't related to. He sat with his hands clasped together, watching the clock hands tick by. He kept his eyes focused on the clock and watched it hit 4 pm sharp. Looking around he didn't see you. He continued to watch the clock and wait. 4:01. 4:07. 4:16. He clasped his hands tighter as he started to worry that you weren't going to show. He nervously started looking around the donut shop but when he turned his head back you had appeared right in front of him. He jumped a little when he caught sight of you.

"Oh I'm sorry did I startle you?" You ask with a smirk

"What? No." Five replied looking away "I was just surprised that you showed up. I was starting to think you weren't going to"

"No, I've been here in front of you the whole time." You commented, "I got here a couple of minutes before you did."

"But I didn't see you." He says

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock." You reply sarcastically "It was funny seeing you start to get worried."

"Worried? I don't get worried." Five quips rolling his eyes

Five had a quick wit, but you were impressed by it. Before you could reply a nice waitress named Agnes came over and asked,

"What can I get you two?"

"I'll have a jelly donut please." You request

"Oh nice choice, those are my specialty. The secret is in the jelly." Agnes replies "And for you young man?"

"Plain, glazed" He responded

Agnes nodded and headed away to get your donuts. Once she was out of earshot Five turned his attention back to you and asked,

"So are you going to tell me how you can do that?"

"Do what?" You answer faking confusion

"Don't play dumb with me, you know what I'm referring to." He responds

"Do I?" you question

"Stop gaslighting me." Five says

You let out a small laugh as Agnes brings over the two donuts. She places them down in front of you two with a smile before leaving.

"So?" He pressed

"So what?" You respond before taking a bite out of your donut

Looks around before leaning in and whispering,

"How do you do all that crazy stuff with your body? Like being invisible and going through things?"

You lean in as well before saying,

"You're gonna have to get to know me first before I reveal my secrets."

Five lets out a huff and leans back into the seat on his side of the booth. You made your comment to him jokingly but deep down you weren't sure if you trust him enough to tell him what you could truly do. The only people who had ever known about your powers were your parents and although he had technically seen them there was still a chance for you to say his eyes were playing tricks on him. You'd have to wait and see where this went before saying anything. You turn your attention back to Five who was crossing his arms. He looks back at you and annoyedly says,

"You are absolutely frustrating."

"Thank you," you respond with a smile

Although you were infuriating to Five it made him like you more. It was nice finally having someone on his level and he always enjoys a good bit of banter. Although you were withholding the information about yourself he wanted to learn most, he was still interested in getting to know you nonetheless. And so for the next two months, the two of you would meet every day at Griddy's Donuts. You'd sit in the same booth with each other, eating the same donuts and talking about whatever came to mind. This was so routine that donuts would be sitting at the table of your booth before you even got there. Conversation was so easy for you two that you would lose track of time and have to rush to get home before getting caught.

In the first couple of weeks, your talks were just surface level-material. You told Five about how you were an only child, your dad's side of the family came from money while your mom's side was never talked about. You went to a private school in the city, the best private school in the city, and learned everything from ancient greek to the complexities of astrophysics. Five told you how he had studied practically all the same things you had and was just as highly educated as you were. He enjoyed reading and bantering and being a little shit as well. Well, he didn't tell you he enjoyed that, that was more of an observation on your part.

Slowly but surely though you both opened up to you about more than just the basics. You told him about how you had always felt weird compared to other kids and even though you knew a lot of people at school you were unsure if they were truly your friends. You felt isolated and alone even in a world of people who cared about you because none of them would ever relate. You learned that Five was one of seven children all of whom were treated terribly by the man who was supposed to be their father. Life in his house was dismal and the fractured family was only held together by force, not by bond. And even though he had siblings he still felt terribly alone.

You and Five grew inseparable from each other. You found comfort in each other and a strong friendship formed fast. Both of you had finally found someone to relate to, to be vulnerable with, someone who supported the other no matter what, and when you realized how much trust had built up between you two you finally felt prepared to admit what you could do to Five. On one of the days where you two were walking back to your houses, you stopped on the sidewalk. Five stopped and turned back around to you. You looked down at your feet nervous about his reaction to what you were about to say. Taking a glance up at him you could see a concerned look in his eyes. Five reached out and grabbed one of your hands before asking,

"What is it? What's wrong?"

You took a deep breath and looked back down at your feet before asking,

"Remember the first thing you asked me that first time at Griddy's?"

Five was confused for a second but then recalled how he wanted to know how you were able to do all that crazy stuff with your body. Five couldn't believe that he had forgotten all about that, it was one of the things he wanted to know most.

"Yes, I remember." He replies

You look back up at him and lock eyes before saying,

"I'm ready to answer that question for you."


	4. Finding Peace

"I'm ready to answer that question for you"

Five let go of your hand and straightened his posture. Locking his eyes on you he made sure it was known that you had his full attention. You looked around at the area, there were way too many people here. If you were to admit you had abilities people would think you're insane. If it was coming from a 4-year-old it might be reasonable but a twelve going on thirteen-year-old? That's not a good look.

"I can't tell you here. We need to go somewhere more private." You told him

"Could we go to your place? You could say I'm a school friend." Five asks

"For any other thing I would say that's fine, but my mom would never give us time alone because I've never had a friend over before" You respond

"Well, I could probably sneak you into my house. We could talk in my room." He suggests

"Would we be left alone?" You ask

"I can guarantee that at my place we'd be more than left alone." He comments with a bit of resentment in his voice

"Alright let's go then." You say

The two of you continue to walk and make your way back to Five's house. You could feel a knot of nervousness and anticipation building in your stomach. With each step closer that knot grew more and more. You had never talked about your powers outside of your family before. You never even had someone you were this close with before. When you got to the house it loomed over you just as it had the first time, but this time it felt a bit more hallow. As the two of you stood outside the building you look up towards the window of his room.

"How in the world are we going to get up there?" You question Five

Five thought about using his powers to warp both of you up to his room but at the same time, he didn't want to have the subject change from you to him. He wanted to hear what you had to say and he would tell you about his abilities in due time. Thinking quickly he grabbed your hand and brought you round to the side of the building. On the side, there was a fire escape with stairs going all the way up the building. You both walked up the stairs as quietly as you could as to not get caught. You knew he had to sneak out of the house to see you so getting caught by someone was the last thing you wanted. Especially when you wanted to tell him about something as big as this. When you made it to the second story, Five gently opened the window and went through it before helping you inside. The door to his room was right next to the window so after Five closed it you both quietly made your way into the room. Once fully inside Five locked the door and turned his attention to you.

"Alright. We're in the clear now. Whatever you have to say, I'm all yours." He says

You took a deep breath before replying,

"You're gonna want to sit down for this one."

Five gave a quick nod and sat down at his desk chair. Giving you his full attention he gestured a hand out to give the floor to you. You turned away from him as it was harder to get the words out when you were looking at him. You knew you trusted Five, that was the whole reason why you even brought it up. But it still was crazy to talk about. You didn't want to lose a good friend, a really good friend, because he thought you were insane. Collecting your nerves you work up the confidence to turn back around. Turning on your heel to face him you say,

"Okay this is going to sound really crazy but just bear with me here."

Five nodded. Honestly, he was prepared to hear anything and be fine with it. Nothing you could say would be crazier than the stuff going on in his own home.

"Five, I'm able to do the things I can do because...because I have powers." You state "It goes against all the laws of science and nature but I have powers."

Five wasn't surprised at the fact that powers existed because he and his siblings all had them but he was surprised that you had them. He had some suspicions because why wouldn't he given what he had seen, but other than that you were normal. You had two parents and lived a relatively normal life so it's not like you were like him and we're born under odd circumstances. He wondered how a regular person like yourself ended up with powers. Looking to you he saw you staring intently at him. Five was confused for a second before he realized he had drifted off into his thoughts and forgot to reply to your admission.

"(Y/N), I don't think it's crazy. No matter what you can do you're still my closest friend and I still like you. Speaking of that what can you do?" He asked

You smiled at Five.

"I can manipulate molecules. You've only seen what I can do with myself but I can manipulate the molecules of other objects too" You respond

"So when I didn't see you...you were making your molecules transparent?"

"Yup!"

"And when you went through the gate?"

"I split them up in such a way that I could phase through it" you respond

Five was highly impressed. Him and his siblings' abilities were obviously powerful but this was on another level. You could manipulate molecules which meant you could manipulate anything in the world.

"What else can you do?" Five questioned

"Do you have a coin?" You asked

Five looks around his room for a bit before finding a quarter in his desk drawer. He holds the quarter up and it flies out of his hand into yours. He looks back and forth between the fingers that were just holding the quarter and your hand that now holds it. You smirk at him before saying,

"Prepare to have your mind blow."

Five watches in wait to see what you do. If phasing yourself through objects and becoming invisible was simple stuff to you he was excited to learn what else you were capable of. You look at the quarter and start to focus on it. Controlling your breathing you think about what you want the coin to do and just like that it melts into a liquid. Five's eyes go wide but you continue to focus on the coin itself. Five watches as the coin goes from a liquid to normal again. The quarter then raises high up in the air before vanishing.

"Put your hand out," You tell Five

Five puts his hand out and the solid quarter reappears. You make the quarter drop and when it hits his hand Five gets pulled down to the ground. The quarter was heavier than it should be and he couldn't get it off his hand. Bending down you pick up the coin and laugh. Stopping your focus the quarter goes back to normal and you place it on his desk.

"What did you just do?" He questions getting himself off the floor

"Made the regular quarter a liquid, lighter than air, a gas, and then extremely dense. Which is why you went down with it." You explain

Five is speechless. He wasn't a fan of being pulled to the floor but still, your abilities were beyond belief.

"And just so you know, yes I can do this to people so you better not get on my bad side." You joke

"(Y/N), this is amazing, absolutely amazing. The circumstances of this are just not the norm." He replied

You smiled again. All your life, as normal as you might've seemed on the outside you knew that you were not. After all these years of feeling like an imposter, you found someone who saw you as you are and still appreciated you. For the first time in a long time, you felt understood.

"You're telling me, the circumstances of my whole existence are not the norm." You mentioned as you sat down on his bed

From across the room Five looked at you confused. Sure, you having powers without reason was out of the norm but your whole existence? He didn't understand how something could be off about that.

"What do you mean?" he asked

"My dad isn't really my biological father. It sounds impossible but I- I don't have a father at all. My mom wasn't pregnant and then one day she was and she, well she had me." You answer quietly

Five couldn't you believe what you had just said. We're you one of the other 43? No, you couldn't be, he had studied all the names but you weren't one of them. How were you born under the same circumstances as he and his siblings were but not on the list? Hesitantly, he asked,

"What's your birthday?"

"I don't know how that has to deal with anything I just told you." You reply

"(Y/N), what day is your birthday?" He pressed harder

"October 1st, 1989 at 12 pm. Why?" You ask

"Because that's my birthday." Five started

And with a flash of blue, he went from being across the room to standing right in front of you.

"And I have powers too"

Your eyes go wide with shock. You weren't the only one. All this time you thought you were the only person in the world who had powers. For years you felt out of place because you weren't "normal". But now here before you stood the boy you had befriended and grown close to over the past two months admitting to you that he had powers as well. With another flash of blue, he was now sitting criss-cross on his bed.

"I can jump through space" he stated bluntly

You thought your admission to him was crazy but his admission rocked your world. Knowing that you were not the only one practically knocked the wind out of you. You never knew and you never would've guessed. Slowly you made your way over to his bed and took a seat next to him before flopping back and looking at the ceiling.

"I thought I was the only one..." you quietly said

Five space jumped so he was sitting facing you now. How did you not know of the others? He had to tell you the truth of everything. You started to sit up but before you could he put a hand on your shoulder and said,

"You're going to want to lay back down"

Slowly you lay back down on his bed and look at him.

"On October 1st, 1989, at 12pm many women across the world gave birth to children without being pregnant that morning. All of the children born were born with abilities beyond human comprehension. You were one, I was one, all of my siblings were as well. It was an unexplainable phenomenon but it happened. You're not the only one, you're not alone and now you know you never will be." Five explains

"I can't believe my parents never told me..." you say so quietly that it's barely audible

"I don't know why they wouldn't but now you know. Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power."

Five lays down on his bed next to you. You both look at his ceiling in silence for a bit.

"You have a point." You respond breaking the silence "So your siblings have powers too, must be an interesting dynamic."

"Interesting isn't the term I'd use to describe it" Five scoffs

"Oh must be a real loving dynamic then," you comment sarcastically

"Just down right positively the most loving dynamic ever to exist," he replies matching your tone

The two of you turn your heads to each other before bursting out laughing.

"Well if I'm going to keep coming over here then you'll have to let me meet these amazing siblings of yours."

"Not happening. I would rather us drink battery acid, it's practically the same experience."

"Fine, fine. At least let me be invisible and you show me around your place."

"Agreed, but not today." Five states "Let's just stay here for a while."

"We can do that." You reply

So the two of you quietly laid there side by side on his bed and for the first time, Five felt at peace in his own home.


	5. (In)Visible Hangouts

As Five laid in silence with you on his bed it was like the whole atmosphere of his room had changed. The room he lived in felt dull and gray, but with you by his side, there was a brightness and warmth to it that wasn't there before. He had enjoyed all the time that he had spent with you at Griddy's over the past two months but there was something different about having you spend time with him in his home. It was like a heaviness he didn't even realize was there was gone. He enjoyed this unburned feeling but more so he enjoyed the fact that you were the one who brought it. Five wasn't used to having a friend, and he especially wasn't used to having a friend as close as you but each moment spent with you he became more and more accustomed to it. The peaceful silence was cut by the sound of a bell ringing and a woman's voice saying,

"Children it's time for dinner!"

You sat up and looked at Five.

"I guess that's my cue to leave."

Five sat up as well and nodded. Neither of you could risk getting caught. Getting up from his bed, you took your hand back from him. He didn't understand why but when you took your hand away something about it felt wrong. It felt like the time Diego accidentally stabbed him in the back during a practice session, but somehow worse. Five got off his bed and moved to be next to you. 

"Do you have to go?" He asks

Turning to him you say,

"Yes, but it's not the end of the world though, you'll see me tomorrow."

Five didn't say anything but you could tell that he wasn't satisfied with the response. Seeing as he was still upset that you had to go you wrapped your arms around him. Five tensed up and asked,

"Wha- what is this?"

"It's a hug stupid. Shut up and wrap your arms back around me." You comment jokingly

Five slowly wraps his arms around you. He had never been held like this before. Actually, he was unsure if he had ever been held at all in his life. He took a deep breath and started to relax, holding you a little tighter in the process. After a minute or so you pulled away from the hug and gave your friend a sweet smile. You then made yourself invisible and walked out of his bedroom door back into the hall and then phased yourself through the window by the fire escape so there was no need to open it. You became visible once more to wave goodbye to Five who stood in the hall watching, even though he couldn't see you. He gives you a small wave back before he throws his hands in his pockets and made his way down to dinner. As he walked to what he knew would be another terrible meal with his problematic family he realized that things didn't feel warm and bright because he was with you but rather because _of_ you. He knew he needed to see you again and sooner than a day from now so after dinner once he got back to his room he decided to jump over to yours. 

_____________________

After a long day, you had finally arrived back home. You didn't want to go home because you were having such a good time with Five but you knew you had. Getting caught was not an option for either of you. You were already breaking your family rule of not going over to the Hargreeves house and if you were caught you would be in a hell of a lot of trouble and as for Five, there was no knowing what kind of punishment he would face for having you over since you were an outsider. You hated the fact that your two had to keep this secret. You hated that because of how your families were you couldn't see each other openly. It was like a bad rendition of Romeo and Juliet. You thought to yourself about how you hated the situation you had going on and how you wanted to be back with Five throughout dinner with your family. You put on a nice face to avoid questioning from your parents as you already had to lie about your whereabouts so you could be with Five. You didn't want to have to concoct more of a story because at some point you could slip up. After finishing dinner you told your parents goodnight and went up to be in your room. When you looked out your window you didn't see Five in his room. He'd typically be back from dinner by now. You then heard a voice behind you say,

"Hey."

You jumped and let out a scream. Turning around you saw Five there nonchalantly leaning up against your closet door as if this was something he had done plenty of times before. 

"Are you okay sweetie?" Your mom called from downstairs

"Uh yeah. Just thought I got stuck in the wall again." You call back

"Alright honey. Don't phase through things if you're not sure you can do it!" Your mom calls back

Turning your attention back to Five before questioning sternly,

"What the hell Five?"

"I wanted to hang out again." he replies bluntly "This is a nice place you got here."

"Thank you but you can't just show up like that, you need to announce your presence."

"I said hey." Five states with a smirk

"You're the worst" you reply rolling your eyes, a slight smile appearing on your face

"I know." He says

And with that, the two of you had started a new routine where you were even more inseparable. Five would pop over to your room and using the fire escape you would sneak into his house. Five enjoyed hanging out in your room playing with toys and watching cartoons on your TV like Dexter's Laboratory and Ed, Edd, and Eddy. He especially enjoyed Codename: Kids Next Door. When he was with you he wasn't expected to be this rigidly trained super-powered being like his dad wanted, he could just be a kid. You enjoyed going to Five's place as well. You liked how you didn't have your parents hanging over you all the time. You knew your parents loved you and they did give you your space but you liked the freedom that came with being with someone who truly understood you as a person. At first, Five wouldn't let you out of his room but in time you got to see different portions of the house. You were always invisible when you went around the house but you didn't mind it since you still got to be with him. 

As you went to different places you got to see different people. When you and Five sat in the library you could see his sister Vanya practicing her violin or the assistant to his father, a highly intelligent chimp named Pogo picking out books to read. In the kitchen, you were introduced to Five's "mom", Grace, a robot created to take care of the children. You also sometimes saw his brother Diego practicing his speech with her or playing with his knives. You almost got hit by one of them one time. Thank god you reacted quickly enough and let it pass through you, but boy was Five mad. He started a fight with his brother telling him to be more careful and Diego was so confused. In the courtyard, you got to see two of Five's brothers, Klaus and Ben. They were polar opposites in a sense where Klaus was outgoing and loud while Ben was quiet and reserved. Then there was Luther and Allison, you only saw them when you were walking in the halls with Five but they seemed pretty inseparable. Oddly inseparable. And when you asked Five about it you wished you didn't because you only became more confused. 

As you observed Five's family you got to see his sibling's powers but also the dynamic. It was a complicated one, to say the least. The kids were like any other siblings but they also had so much conflict between them. The family was both torn apart and kept together by each other. It was rough seeing the environment in which your best friend had to live. Every once in a while when things became especially headed between family members you would get as close as you could to Five and would hold his hand or hug him from the side. You never saw a reaction on his face since he couldn't acknowledge you were there but to Five those acts of care meant the world to him. No matter what happened in that home, no matter what you saw or heard you enjoyed being with him through everything the same way he did with you. And so the two of you kept getting together at each other's places and for a while, no one was the wiser. Your parents had no clue about Five whenever he literally popped over to your place, but unbeknownst to the two of you, Five's family started to figure out about your existence. 

The first one to find out was Grace. You had told your parents you were staying over at a friend from school's house because Five had been begging for you to have a sleepover with him. He adored having you around as you were his best friend and so he thought that a sleepover would not only be fun but then he could keep you for longer. The two of you set up plenty of pillows and blankets on the floor and stayed up as long as you could before passing out. The issue was Five had forgotten to lock his door and so when the morning arrived Grace came to the room to wake up Five for the day ahead. When she saw the two of you asleep in each other's arms on the floor she was obviously shocked but since she was programmed to be a protector she said nothing about it knowing it would bring harm to Five.

The next one was Pogo. Pogo was walking through the house and from a window noticed Five jumping through space for no apparent reason. What was really occurring though, was you and Five were playing a game of tag in the courtyard. With you being invisible though it was less so tag and more so a really sadistic version of Marco Polo. When Five had finally caught you, you revealed yourself to him and in turn had unknowingly shown yourself to Pogo. Pogo thought about bringing up this information to Mr. Hargreeves but seeing how happy Five was and knowing what Five and the other kids go through on a daily basis he decided to keep the information to himself. He also didn't want to scare you off since he saw that you have abilities as well.

Neither Five nor you had realized that Grace and Pogo found out about you two and even if you did know about them, Grace and Pogo were not really the issue. It was Five's siblings who would be the issue if they found out. And on one fateful day, that's exactly what happened.


	6. Six Pesky Siblings

With seven children living under one roof, it was difficult to avoid each other. It was even more difficult though to stay out of everyone else's business. Living in such close proximity it was pretty much inevitable that if one sibling had a secret then all the others would find out about it. And so like any other secret in the Hargreeves household, the secret of you and Five's friendship came to light.

At first, the six other Hargreeves siblings were completely unaware of your existence. There was no way they would know about you given the fact that for the first two months of your friendship with Five you were never even close to the house. They didn't know about you but they started to suspect something was off about Five. The first thing they noticed was Five smiled a lot more. It was odd since happiness was a rare commodity in their household, but as odd as it was most of the siblings just ignored it and went on with their days. Then they noticed how Five would lock himself in his room for hours on end. It was a bit unusual as well but they assumed he just wanted to lessen the risk of interacting with their father. 

It was when Five started to bring you outside of his room and around the house that the siblings noticed something was really off. Five started to read aloud in the library for hours on end. Five was always one to insist on quiet when he was reading so what reason did he have to start breaking his own rule? Then came the talking to himself. Wherever he went, his room, the hallways, the courtyard, anywhere he would be having a one-way conversation with himself. It was uncomfortable for his siblings as it was like he was having a full conversation with someone but it was only him. After that they noticed how Five became territorial of his space, yelling at anyone who came within a 5-foot radius of him. No one was allowed to get close to him anymore. He even got into a fight with Diego because one of his knives flew past him within that radius. It was weird though because the knife was nowhere close to hitting Five. By this point, they knew something was up with him and they were determined to find out what. The six other siblings decided to come together and find out what was up with their brother.

Together the six other siblings had devised a plan to find out what was going on. Their father would be leaving town for a few days and therefore the rules of the house would be a bit laxer with Grace and Pogo in charge. It would on the second day of their father's absence that they would strike. Now this plan was unknown to Five for two reasons, one, his siblings obviously wouldn't tell him but two he was creating his own plan for that same day. The second day of his father's absence was also the 6th month anniversary of you and him meeting and becoming friends. This was a pretty big deal to him and he wanted to make it special and surprise you. He was planning the food, the music, how he would dress, and every other little detail because he wanted it to be perfect. He really wanted to show you how much you mean to him. And so he counted down the days, hours, and minutes til the day where he could surprise you.

When the day of your friendship anniversary arrived Five woke up bright and early and spent most of the morning getting his room ready for you to come over. He cleaned and organized it from top to bottom, multiple times until he felt it was good enough for you to see (even though you had seen his room many times before). He then decorated by putting up some string lights, laid a picnic blanket on one part of the floor with some pillows and he had set up a portable radio that he "borrowed" from Allison's room on his desk. By the time Grace had called the kids for breakfast his room looked like a completely different place. To make sure that no one saw his room he locked the door and jumped through it. Filled with joy he unknowingly started dancing his way to the kitchen humming a little tune to himself. As he entered the kitchen and made his way over to his seat his siblings gave him some sideways glances but it didn't matter because he was too wrapped up in his excitement to notice. Once Five finished breakfast he got up and shimmied his way to the bathroom so he could get himself ready to see you. Five took three showers, brushed his teeth about 12 times, and was in the process of trying to style his hair when a knock came from the door. 

"Hey, are you done in there? I need the bathroom." He heard his brother Klaus ask

"No." He replied bluntly

"You've been in there for three hours please let me have the bathroom," Klaus begs

"Piss off Klaus" Five replies

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO!" Klaus yells

"Ugh fine." Five says swinging the door open 

Klaus runs into the bathroom as Five walks down the hall making his way to his room and passing some of his siblings in the process. They look at him with his half styled hair in confusion.

"I think he's lost his mind." Allison comments

"I think it's been gone for a while," Luther replies

When Five got back to his room he finished attempting to style his hair and then took way too long to decide which one of his Umbrella Academy uniforms was the nicest looking one. After he had finally decided which one was the best he secretly left the house and got some donuts from Griddy's and a pizza from a pizza parlor down the street. On his way back to the house he saw a nice bouquet of flowers and decided to get it for you. When he paid for the flowers the clerk at the store looked him up and down before saying to him,

"Trying to impress a girl?"

"Uh, yeah...kind of." Five replied to the man

"Here kid, take this as well. Free of charge." The clerk said handing him a teddy bear

"Oh thanks," Five said before leaving the store and quickly making his way back to his room

Once Five had jumped back to his room with all the stuff in tow he started putting things where they should be. He put the food boxes on the picnic blanket, the flowers in the water, and then hid them with the teddy bear in his closet. It was only 30 minutes until you were supposed to show up but with each passing second his excitement turned into nervousness. Did he have everything he should? Was his room nice enough for you to be there? Did he look okay? What if you didn't like pizza? Five started being consumed by his worries that what he had planned wasn't good enough.

"Hey." A voice came from behind him

"Holy shit!" Five said visibly shocked

"See now you know how it feels." You joke

"How long were you there?" Five questions 

"I just arrived. I decided to try out a new thing with my powers and it worked." You answer

"Which is?' 

"Deconstruction and reconstruction of my molecules in different places." You state "So like your power except instead of jumping through space I just disassemble myself in one place and reassemble myself somewhere else."

"That's amazing (Y/N)!" Five exclaims

"Thanks. It's pretty limited though, I can only do it for short distances and I need to know where I'm going." 

"I still think you're amazing." Five comments "I uh- your powers are amazing!"

 _"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."_ Five thought to himself

You had no clue what was going on in his head, but looking at the frantic boy before you couldn't help but let out a laugh. He was a little weird but it was one of the many things you liked about him. You then turn your attention to the room and ask,

"So what's all this about?"

Five snaps out of his thoughts and replies,

"Oh. Well, today is 6 months since we met and became friends so I thought it would be nice to do something special."

You smile at Five and he reciprocates.

"May I escort my best friend to dinner?" He asks gesturing towards the picnic blanket on the floor

"Absolutely." You reply

Interlocking your arm with his, he walks you the three steps across the room to the picnic blanket. He grabs a pillow for you to sit on and helps you sit down before turning on the radio and sitting on a pillow opposite of you. Five then dishes out pizza and donuts for the both of you to eat. 

"You really have every detail planned." You comment

"Of course I had to make it perfect for you. You're my best friend." He replied taking a bite out of his pizza

"Well consider me impressed. This is the nicest surprise I have ever gotten." You say

"Well I have another surprise for you ma chérie," Five says before getting up to go to his closet

Your heart stops for a second as he goes to his closet. He called you ma chérie instead of ma chere. You knew french like the back of your hand and knew the difference between the two. Ma chere was platonic, ma chérie was the romantic form. It was such a slight difference but it changed the meaning. Did he intend this? Could it have been an accident? Was it a Freudian slip? You didn't know but it didn't matter because your stomach had already turned into a knot and your head was consumed with thoughts.

"(Y/N)," Five called, pulling you from your thoughts "These are for you."

You look at him and see him holding out a bouquet of fresh flowers and a cute little teddy bear. Your heart filled with warmth as you took the gifts from him. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and you adored the teddy bear. You took a long look admiring the gifts before looking at Five. 

"Do you- do you like them?" He questioned nervously

Gently placing the gifts down to the side you practically jump across the picnic blanket to hug your best friend. Holding him tightly you exclaim,

"I adore them! Thank you!"

Five let out a breath of relief and wrapped his arms back around you. Although you couldn't see it he was smiling ear to ear. Something about having you happily in his arms made him feel so good. You pulled back to look at Five and for a few seconds, the two of you happily gazed into each other's eyes. You broke eye contact when you heard a familiar tune come on the radio,

"Oh, I love this song!" You say jumping off the ground

Five looks up at you from his seat on the picnic blanket.

"Well come on, don't leave me alone on the dancefloor." You joke to him

Five stands as you turn the radio volume up. The two of you start to dance as well as two twelve-year-olds who have only been trained in ballroom dancing can. It was not the best dancing on either of your parts but neither of you cared. To have a little more fun you decided to go invisible.

"Where did you go?" he asked

"I don't know. You gotta dance around and find me," you replied with a laugh

And so around the room he danced trying to find you. At the same moment you two were dancing, Five's six pesky siblings had put their plan in motion. A few days before all the kids had pitched in to get a basic spy camera. It wasn't the nicest but to the kids it looked the coolest. Diego then had entered Five's room while he was in the library and hid the spy camera in a place where he wouldn't see. Now on the second day that their father was gone, they finally were going to reveal his secret. Gathering in Diego's room they used a remote signal from a basic video tablet to turn on the camera in Five's room.

"Alright Five, What are you hiding from us," Diego asked rhetorically

When the picture came into view the six siblings saw their brother dancing poorly around his room.

"Hey, it's my radio! I knew someone took it!" Allison exclaims

"No one cares about your radio Allison." Klaus comments "We want to know what's up with Five."

Allison lets out a huff and crosses her arms. For a bit, his siblings watched their brother poorly dance around his room.

"Maybe he's just found a way to have fun in life." Vanya says "I don't see anything too wrong with him."

"No, something is off. I have a gut feeling about it." Luther replies

The kids watch as Five grabs the thin air and wraps his arms around it with a smile. They look at the video feed confused at their brother's actions but then you appear right in front of their eyes.

"Did you guys just see that or am I seeing another dead person?" Klaus asks

"No, we saw that." Diego replies

"That girl was invisible," Ben adds

And that's when it clicked in their minds. That's why he would have conversations with seemingly no one. That's why he would read out loud in the library. That's why he was so protective of his space. And most importantly that's why he was happy. He was weird because of you. You were the secret he was hiding, but why?

"Why would he hide this from us? Not only is she a girl but uh if you guys didn't just see she also has some sort of powers." Vanya asks

"We should bust in there and ask him some questions." Diego states

"And get my radio back!" Allison adds

"NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR RADIO!" Klaus exclaims

Luther took a look at the video stream again. He saw how happy Five was smiling and dancing with you. He could only imagine that that's how he would be if he had the same opportunity to do that with Allison and he knows he would hate it if that was abruptly stopped for him. Looking back to the group of others Luther says,

"I don't know why he would hide it but right now is not the time to try and burst in and question him. For now, let's let him be and we can secretly question him tomorrow since Dad will still be away."

"But-" Diego tries to interject

"No buts. Shut down the camera and let's find something else to do." Luther states before exiting 

The other siblings slowly disperse to go do their own things, each of them with their own questions in mind. Back in Five's room though the two of you were blissfully unaware of the spying that occurred. The two of you enjoyed each other's presence and the music that played. The radio soon switched from upbeat pop songs to a slow one. Five glanced at you and took a deep breath before extending his hand and asking,

"Do you want to dance?"

"I'd love to mon cherí." You reply taking his hand

Five was surprised by your words. He didn't know if it was purposeful or accidental but either way, it made his heart race. Slowly he pulled you close to him and you two swayed to the music. Being trained in ballroom dancing Five threw in a spin here or there for you. He loved the way your hair flew as you spun around. As the song neared its climax he spun you around one more time but this time you accidentally let go of his hand and slipped on the picnic blanket. You started to fall back but in a flash Five had grabbed you in his arms. Looking you in the eyes he said,

"I'm not going to let you fall."

Pulling you back up he brought you close to him again. You rested your head on his shoulder as you two finished out your dance. And even though he told you he wouldn't let you fall it was too late because you already fell. You fell for him.


	7. Welcome To The Family

After your dance, you and Five continued to talk and hang out enjoying the slightly staler donuts and the lukewarm pizza. It was not until you looked out the window and saw the stars in the sky that you realized how late it was. As much as you didn't want to leave you knew that you had to go home since you hadn't told your parents you were sleeping over at a friend's house nor did they even know you had left. Reluctantly you said,

"This has been wonderful but I think I need to be getting back home."

"Do you have to?" Five pleaded

"Yes, I don't want my parents to report me missing in the morning" You reply

"Fine, but can I at least escort you back to your house?" Five asks

"Why of course." You reply

Holding your flowers and teddy bear with one arm you grabbed Five's hand with the other. Barely a second after the two of you jumped from his room to yours. You placed the flowers down on your desk and the teddy bear on your bed before turning to Five. Giving him another tight hug you quietly say,

"Thank you for everything Five. You pushing me to the ground was the best thing to ever happen to me."

"And you are the best thing to ever happen to me." He quietly replied

The two of you stood there in the silence not wanting to let go of each other but knowing at some point you had to. Slowly the two of you let go of the embrace. Five gave you a smile before flashing back over to his room. Tired from the events of the day you got into your bed, held your teddy bear tight, and fell asleep to the thoughts of the dance you shared that night. 

Once Five had returned back to his room he flopped back on his bed, a wide smile across his face. He was tired but he couldn't sleep because the memory of you calling him mon cherí replayed over and over again in his mind. It wasn't just the words that made him so overwhelmingly happy it was the fact that the words came from you. He didn't understand why or how you were able to overwhelm him so much but one thing he knew is he never wanted you to stop. Five stayed awake for a while just replaying the night in his head but soon enough he had succumbed to his exhaustion and fallen asleep. One thing for sure is that even while he slept he was excited for what the next day would bring. 

His siblings had a different plan in mind though. Luther taking on the leadership role woke the rest of his siblings up and brought them to the parlor. Diego and Allison were ready to find out what was going on while Klaus, Ben, and Vanya were more apathetic accomplices. Did they want to know? Of course, but not enough to wake up early on one of the only days they'd probably get to sleep in because their father wasn't around. 

"Did you have to get us up so early Luther? This is earlier than our typical schedule." Klaus complains

"Yes. We all need to be present so we can question him. We're stronger together." Luther replies

Klaus lets out a defeated sigh. Luther, Allison, and Diego stood up and waited for Five to wake up and come downstairs. It took a while, so long that the other three had fallen back asleep on one of the couches. When the children heard their brother coming down the stairs though they all got ready to strike. Strike with their questions that is. Diego smacked Klaus' head so that he would wake up.

"Ow!" Klaus exclaims jolting up waking Ben and Vanya in the process

When Five walked into the parlor and saw all of his siblings there he said,

"Morning. Why are you all just sitting down here?"

"Five, why don't you take a seat," Luther says gesturing to a spot on the couch

"Uh, alright." Five replies

He slowly walks over to the open space on the couch and sits down. He looks at his siblings confused and asks,

"What's going on?"

"We just have a few questions for you." Diego replies

"Okay? Go on." Five says

"Well, given recent circumstances..." Allison starts

"We were just wondering..." Luther continues

"What's your girlfriend's name?!" Klaus interjects

"What? (Y/N) isn't my girlfriend." Five retorts

He then realizes what he had just said. He not only admitted your existence but he told them your name. 

"Shit!" Five yells jumping up from his seat "None of you better say anything or I'll slit your throats one by one."

"Calm down Five, we're not going to tell anyone," Allison says

"How can I trust that you guys won't hold this over my head as some type of blackmail, huh?" Five retorts

"We're siblings, we wouldn't do that," Vanya adds

"Why are you getting so worked up about this anyway? She's just some girl." Diego asks

"(Y/N) IS NOT JUST SOME GIRL. SHE IS MY BEST FRIEND AND I LOVE HER." Five yells

The room goes silent but the volume of the words Five had just said was louder than anything. Five stood there in a moment of realization. He loved her. He loved (Y/N). The silence hangs in the air for a bit but then is cut by Klaus exclaiming,

"Awwwww our angry little munchkin is in love! How sweet!"

"At least he found someone outside the family," Diego whispers to the three siblings on the couch

The four of them start to chuckle to themselves. Allison then turn to them and asks,

"What are you guys laughing about?"

"Oh, nothing," Klaus replies

"Whatever," Allison says with a shake of her head

"Can we meet her?" Vanya asks

Five snaps out of his trance and looks towards Vanya. Soon all his siblings were begging to meet you. They wanted to know all about you and see what made their sarcastic grump of a sibling so happy. Their incessant chatter became so overwhelming that Five burst and said,

"Fine! Just stop asking me."

While the rest of his siblings celebrated, Five went to the kitchen to grab his breakfast from Grace and then immediately flashed up to his room. He really wasn't excited to introduce you to the rest of his siblings. Especially after he had just admitted he had feelings for you. What if they embarrassed him? What if they ended up not liking you? What if they told you how he felt and you didn't feel the same and you didn't want to be around him anymore? All these thoughts flew through his head as he chomped down on his breakfast anxiously waiting for your arrival later that day.

His siblings downstairs though were excitedly prepping for you to come over. Not only were they excited to meet the person that their brother was in love with but you would be the first outsider of their own age that they got to meet. They were prepared to ask you so many questions because they wanted to know every little detail about you. They even asked Grace to make snacks for the occasion without mentioning what the occasion was for (although Grace had an idea of what it might be).

As the day went by it became close to the time in which you typically arrived. Five became more and more anxious as the minutes ticked down because he was hesitant to introduce you to the rest of his family. Pacing back and forth he tried to think of a way out of introducing you but it was too late because when he turned to face in the other direction you were already sitting on his window sill.

"What's wrong?" You asked him

With a deep sigh, he replied,

"I don't know how but my siblings found out about you and they really want to meet you."

"Well then let me meet them." You respond "but let's do it my way."

Five looks at you intrigued. You wave your hand to call him over and then whisper your plan in his ear. Five looks at you with a devilish smirk and nods in agreement. Five heads downstairs with you invisibly trailing behind him. When he enters the parlor he addresses his siblings with a smile saying,

"Well, here she is."

"Where?" Vanya asks

"Right here!" you say as you phase your head through Five's chest

The six other siblings start to scream in panic at what you had done. You phase back out of Five and stand to his side. The two of you fall to the ground and bust out laughing at the fear you had caused his siblings. Five stands up and extends a hand to help you off the ground. Then when the six other Hargreeves siblings calm down and stop screaming you try to introduce yourself but before you can respond Grace and Pogo run into the room.

"Children, what is with all the commotion?" Pogo asks 

"Are all of you okay?" Grace questions

The children nod their heads but then turn to you causing Grace and Pogo to look your way.

"Uh hi. I'm (Y/N)." You say nervously

"Oh, you must be Five's new friend!" Grace says cheerfully "The kids have been so excited to meet you! Let me go get the snacks I prepared!"

When Grace exits the room Pogo looks you up and down before saying,

"So you're the child from across the street with unexplained powers."

"Well yes, but uh...I wouldn't quite say they're unexplained." You reply

You avoid the gaze of everyone nervous about how they might react to you. You can feel the intense stares of everyone in the room waiting for you to explain how you can do the things you do. You then feel a familiar hand grab yours. Turning your head Five gives you a reassuring nod. Taking a deep breath you turn your attention back to the crowd in front of you before stating,

"I was born October 1st, 1989 at 12pm."

Some of the kids' jaws drop while others' eyes go wide. You try to calm your nerves as you can feel yourself shaking.

"Go on." Pogo requests

"My mother was not pregnant when the day began but yet she had me anyway. Ever since I was a child I've had these unnatural and unexplained abilities." You continue

"What are your abilities?" Ben asks

"Well, simply I can manipulate molecules. Through practice I've taught myself to do some things but since molecules make up everything I know I can probably do more, or at least improve upon what I can already do."

"So what can you do then?" A stern voice comes from the parlor entrance

"Master Hargreeves, I did not expect you to be back so early," Pogo says shocked

The kids look over to see their father standing there. Five grabs your hand tighter and pulls you slightly behind him as if to be a wall in between you and his father.

"Well go on then, if you aren't fooling my family then you will show us these abilities you claim to have."

Fear struck your heart after hearing the stories from Five of how he treated him and his siblings but you knew you were stronger than him. You had powers beyond belief and he did not. Gaining your courage you step forward and look at the old man sternly before stating,

"Oh, it would be my pleasure."

You feel a rush of power and adrenaline course through your veins as you show off what you can do. Turning invisible you make your way over to paperweight lying on a desk. Making yourself visible again you raise the paperweight into the air and turn it into a liquid and then into a gas. Walking forward you phase through everything in your path from chairs, to tables, to statues. When you arrive closer to the other kids you make the paperweight reappear and ask,

"Which one of you is the strongest?"

Luther stands up and steps forward.

"Put your hands out."

Luther does as he's told and once he is ready with his hands out your drop the paperweight that is immensely denser than it typically would be. Just as Five had with the quarter, Luther immediately drops to the ground hard enough that it actually dents the floor.

"I- I can't lift it! It's too heavy! I can't get it off me." He yells

As you continue to make the paperweight denser than it should be you then disappear. Disassembling yourself from in front of the children and reassembling yourself right behind Mr. Hargreeves. You then ask sternly,

"Was my demonstration to your satisfaction, _sir_?"

Reginald turns around visible shock in his eyes. You did have abilities just like you said and somehow they were more developed than any of his children thus far. You could be a good asset to assist his children in becoming stronger and more developed. Reginald regains his composure and comments,

"Your powers are impressive, although your attitude is not."

"It's not attitude, it's called freedom of expression." You retort "It's something you acquire when your parents actually love you."

Such a sharp tongue for such a small girl. Although Reginald wouldn't show it he was almost impressed. He didn't quite like your ability to stand up to him but the more he saw of you the more he figured he could use you to improve his own children's skills. If they could become efficient in combat with someone who had the ability to control molecules then they would be able to take on anything. The two of you stared each other down before you said,

"I am going to depart earlier than I typically do so you can spend some _quality time_ with your family. I will be back tomorrow though whether you like it or not." 

And with that, you were gone. Everyone watched as you left in shock and awe of not only of your abilities but the true power you had of putting Reginald Hargreeves, the cruelest man these kids have ever known, in check. And from that day forward you became a key part of the Hargreeves family even though you weren't their sibling. You brought a different dynamic to the group that they hadn't had before. 

To Grace, you were another child to take care of. She adored you in the same way she adored all of the other children in the household. Although you were not there all the time you still mattered a great deal to her and she enjoyed hearing about your time at school or something you did back at your home. She tried to encourage you in the same way she encouraged all the children to do their best and when you struggled she was there to support you.

To Reginald and Pogo, you were a key part of the development of the Umbrella Academy. Each day when you came over you agreed to train with the children on the condition that you and them were able to play and hang out afterward. Reginald despised the lack of structure but he despised not using you as a combat training mechanism more. With you around the kids learned new strategies to take down threats that were unseen and controlled parts of nature that they could not. You also improved upon your abilities by being able to do them naturally and not have to concentrate all the time. You were also able to learn new skills such as self-defense and offensive fighting maneuvers and the ability to use the molecules around you to create things such as fire, water, or smoke. With each practice session, you, Five, and all his siblings grew stronger.

But to the children, you had the greatest impact. You became a comfort to them. First of all, the fact that you were able to get them legitimate free time where they could just play was a miracle and they were forever grateful for that. Second of all, you gave them a connection that they had never experience. You became a friend, one that they greatly needed and never had before. You and Vanya bonded over your love of classical instruments. You played the piano and she played the violin. To her, it was nice to have someone who shared her passion but also someone who saw her as more than just ordinary. You made her feel special and like she was important in a house that had thrown her to the side. For Allison, you were the girl bestie she could never find. The two of you would talk about anything from pop culture to make up to boys. You even snuck her some magazines every once in a while. The two of you looked out for each other, she kept your secrets and you kept hers. To Ben, you were just a nice addition. Compared to all his siblings who were constantly ready for battle and always ready to use their powers you were just normal. He was shy but he felt like he could open up and talk to you and that's all he really needed. As for Klaus, you gave him an outlet to get all his energy and need to be entertaining out. You were his perfect audience and he took great comfort in knowing that you accepted him as is more so than his family. To Luther and Diego, you were a fierce opponent in training but more so you made them feel strong. They both felt a strong desire to protect you because you protected them. For Luther, you helped to reassure him that he was a good leader and he was worthy of being Number One. And for Diego, you helped him with his stutter without judgment and listened to the feelings he was keeping inside, and the more he knew you the more you grew to be a sibling to him rather than just a friend.

And then there was Five. You were already his best friend and even though you branched out to the rest of the family you always reassured him that he was your number one pick out of the Hargreeves siblings. Every moment with Five was better than the last and each time you were with him you found more and more things to love about him. You didn't know it but Five felt the same about you. Although neither of you saw it everyone else could see how much the two of you meant to each other. In combat, you two would always work together and look out for each other. At the end of the day no matter who you had spent time with earlier you always went back to Five and he always went back to you. You were each other's best friend and confidants. Closer than close, you two were inseparable. Every day was spent with each other and your shared upcoming birthday was no exception.


	8. Birthday Cash Pt. 1

Sunlight shined through your curtains as the sounds of the city outside you started to wake you. Slowly you sat up and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. When your eyes came into focus you took a look at the calendar you hung beside your bed. The date of it read October 1st, 2002. Today was your birthday. Shooting up from your bed you ran down the stairs of your home into the living room. Standing there were your two parents.

"Happy birthday!" Your parents exclaim

You looked around the room to see balloons and decorations everywhere. Every year, your parents went all out for your birthday. To both of them, your existence was a miracle and they wanted to show how grateful they were to have you. Even when you were small and they knew you wouldn't remember what they had done for your birthday they still went all out. You were their little princess and all they wanted to do was make your day the best it could be. As you looked around the room you saw decorations from wall to wall. There were streamers and balloons as far as the eye could see. You made your way over to your parents who both gave you a big hug. 

"Alright sweetie you sit tight right here and your father and I will be right back!"

Taking a seat on your living room couch you sit and wait for your parents. When they come back into the room you see your mom carrying a cake and your father carrying a box. Your mom places the cake on the living room table and takes a seat to your left side while your dad sits to your right. The two of them sing happy birthday to you and when you have your wish in mind you blow the candles out in one go.

"What did you wish for?" Your dad asks you

"Honey, you know wishes don't come true if you talk about them." Your mom says

"Oh fine, I won't pry." your dad responds "Anyway I've got one of many gifts for you right here. Do you want to open it?"

"Of course!" You reply excitedly

Your dad places the box in your lap and you gently undo the ribbon tied around it. Opening the box you remove the tissue paper and see the gift inside.

"No way! It's exactly what I wanted!" You exclaim

Inside the box was a replica of the diary for The Princess Diaries. The movie came out a little over a year ago and since then you were obsessed. You wanted the diary from that movie specifically because you loved how it needed a locket that fit it perfectly to open it up. 

"Well, you had been talking about the journal ever since you saw the movie. It took a while but we had it custom made for you. It's practically an exact replica except we had it so yours could fit more pages." Your mom explains

"Do you like it?" Your dad asks

"I LOVE IT!" You reply "But where is the locket?"

"Lift up the diary." You mom says

When you lifted the book up you saw not one but two lockets. 

"Why are there two?" You ask

"Well, we wanted to make sure that if you lost the first one you could have a second one handy." Your dad responds

"Keep the second one in a safe place." Your mom says

"I will!" You reply

You knew exactly where you were going to keep the second locket but for now, you spent some time with your family eating cake for breakfast and taking in all the time that your parents had spent to make your day special. When the three of you finished your cake your dad states,

"Your mom and I have one more surprise for you but we need to go to the bank to get it. Go get ready so we can head out." 

Excitedly you run upstairs and get ready. When you finish you eagerly wait for your parents downstairs. Once all of you have everything you need to go, you head out the door and off to the Capital West Bank.

__________________________

Today was October 1st, 2002 but in the Hargreeves household, this day was just like any other. Reginald Hargreeves cared little for birthdays or the acknowledgment that his children were another year older. Like for past birthdays, he merely congratulated them on not passing yet and went on with his day. Unlike Reginald, Grace was much more sympathetic and caring towards the kids and tried to make sure that they all felt special on their birthday. When the children came down from their rooms for breakfast she made sure that each one of them got their favorite thing to eat. She also wished each individual child Happy Birthday as she handed them their plates. This was the routine that occurred every October 1st since they could remember, but this year it would be a little different because the kids knew that later today they would get to celebrate with you. While they kept quiet when their father was at the table, the minute he left the chattering of excitement amongst the six siblings was unstoppable. Each one of them presented their ideas for what they wanted to do for a fun birthday. Diego suggested,

"We should play pin the tail on the donkey but instead it's balloons and we have to pop them with knives!"

"Diego, you would win that one automatically." Allison comments

"And? I want to be a winner on my birthday." He replies with a wide grin

"Well, I want to have a dance party for our birthday!" Allison says

"Oooh, I can get on board with that." Klaus comments

"I want to duet playing happy birthday with (Y/N)." Vanya comments

"And I think it would be fun if we just sit around and talk," Ben says

"Maybe if we're lucky she'll bring over presents and we'll actually get stuff this year!" Luther adds

"What do you want to do for our birthday, Five?" Vanya asks turning the attention to him

"I bet he wants to kiss (Y/N)." Diego interjects making kissy faces at Five "Mwah mwah mwah oh (Y/N) I love you so much!"

"Shut up." Five says looking away from his siblings, heat rising to his face

"You're not denying it." Luther teases

Luther and Diego start to tease their brother more and Klaus starts to sing,

"Five and (Y/N) sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Fi-"

"Ugh! Leave me alone!" Five says grabbing his breakfast and getting up from the table

Five then flashes away to his room. His siblings were so annoying no matter what day it was. Ever since he had accidentally told them about a month ago that he loved you, they relentlessly teased him about it. Well, Diego, Luther, and Klaus did with Allison chiming in here and there. Ben and Vanya were more so supportive and stayed out of his business, which he appreciated. Nevertheless, it was difficult to deal with their incessant teasing. Yes, he loved you and yes, he's thought about kissing you but he couldn't find the courage to go through with it. You were his best friend, his only friend and he didn't want to lose you because he felt a certain way and you didn't. It was a risk he just wasn't willing to take because he couldn't be sure how you felt for him. Five sat down on his bed and angrily munched on his birthday breakfast hoping that soon enough something would happen to make the day more exciting.

__________________________

When you and your family arrived at the Capital West Bank you took a look around. It was very nice looking with high ceilings and a balcony upstairs that worked its way around the main room. Your father approached the counter and you followed. You ignored the conversation your father and the clerk were having and continued to look around. You saw many different people in the bank, some standing around, some going and then some coming in. As you watched a group of men walk in the door you grew suspicious. In your gut, you felt something shifty about them. Cautiously you watched them out of your peripheral to see what they were up to but to not be obvious about it. A bank teller then steps out from behind the counter and walks you over to a set of stairs directing you and your family up them. Bringing you to a back room the teller uses a key to unlock the door. In the room, you see wall to wall safes. Each one looking just as heavily secured as the next. Your father takes a step towards one of them and entered a passcode. When the safe opens in there is an exact replica of Princess Mia's tiara. Your father gently grabs it from the safe and places it on your head.

"A perfect princess tiara for our perfect birthday princess." Your mom comments

As you relish in the sweet moment with your parents you all hear some commotion from downstairs. Your family and the teller head out of the room and watch from the upstairs balcony as chaos breaks loose downstairs. You can hear the screams of other people in the main lobby as the men who you had a bad feeling about pull out some guns and start threatening people. The banker pulls you and your family back into the back room. Quickly your dad takes the tiara off your head and puts it back in the safe before closing it swiftly. The banker that brought you upstairs calls 911 and details the situation going on, but before he can finish talking to the 911 operator a couple of members of the who were in charge of this robbery shoot him. The criminals, uncaring of what they had just done to an innocent life proceeded to make their way over to you and your parents. Your parents get in front of you to put space between you and the criminals but it is useless because they end up forcing you three down on the ground and put duct tape around your wrists. As you're on the ground you give your mother a pleading look but she shakes her head no. You knew that you could use your powers to get you and your family out of this but your mom didn't want you to in fear of people taking you to do experiments. You let out a sigh as the robbers sit the three of you up. One of them sends the others outside to guard the room before turning to your father to interrogate him.

"Now tell me where this tiara is." The criminal commands

This is not how you expected your birthday to go.

__________________________

For the Hargreeves kids, their birthday was going the same as always, which is to say not much excitement was going on. They all separated and started to do their own things but their activities were interrupted when Reginald yelled,

"Children come down to the parlor immediately!" 

All the children made their way down to the parlor as quickly as they could. Standing in an orderly line from 1 to 7 the children look to their father to hear what he has to say.

"You have been training to use your powers for years and now you have been presented the opportunity to go and demonstrate them to the world. The Capital West Bank is under siege by a group of robbers and the patrons inside have been taken as hostages. There has been a standoff with police for about two and a half hours at this point and I intend for you children to finish it. Get out of your pajamas and get in your uniforms, we leave in 10 minutes sharp."

The children run off to their rooms and rush to get ready for their first-ever mission. This was not quite the excitement they were looking for but nonetheless, it was better than nothing. Within 10 minutes' time, all the children were ready to go. Quickly, they made it to the bank. The six children with powers devised a plan to get inside while Vanya stayed with Mr. Hargreeves looking at the scene from afar. All the kids minus Luther make their way into the bank through side entrances trying to not get caught. As nonchalantly as possible Allison walked towards the main part of the bank. As she did so she saw one of the criminals talking on a walkie-talkie.

"Hey get them behind the counter," He said to some other robbers using his gun to gesture "Now you've put me in a position where I gotta do something I don't wanna do. SHIT!"

She approaches the man and stands there innocently.

"Hey get back with the others!" The man commands Allison

"I heard a rumor... Allison replies

"What? What did you say?" The man asks

Allison then leans in towards the man and repeats herself. Putting a hand up to her mouth she says,

"I heard a rumor that you shot your friend in the foot."

Under the command of Allison's power, the man turns to his accomplice and aims the gun at him.

"Hey dude, what the hell?" the other man asks

The man under Allison's power then shoots his friend in the foot before shooting again. The other man falls to the ground and accidentally shoots off rounds from his automatic weapon. The hostages of the bank scream in fear. A crash then comes from the ceiling as a bunch of glass rains down into the bank. Along with the glass is Luther who jumps down into the bank, grabs one of the criminals banging his head against the counter before throwing him out of one of the high windows. Within seconds Diego runs in brandishing his weapons of choice,

"Guns are for sissies, real men throw knives!" He exclaims throwing his knives and redirecting them towards one of the gunmen 

The knives manage to hit the gunman in the shoulder and his heart. After the one gunman got hit by Diego's knives, the man standing next to Allison came out of his trance and ran away from her towards the counter. As the kids and robbers continue to fight chaos continues to ensue throughout the whole building.

__________________________

You and your parents had been in the backroom upstairs for what felt like hours at this point. The man who stood before you kept yelling at your father to tell him where the safe that had your tiara was. Somehow your dad had avoided the question thus far but the criminal was becoming impatient. The robber was about to speak again when the sound of gunshots rang out from downstairs.

"We're gonna have to move this along. If you're not going to tell me straight up then I'm just going to have to force it out of you!" The robber yells

The robber then grabs you and holds the gun in his hand against your head.

"You should let go of me before something happens." You comment calmly

"Aw, what are you gonna do? Cry?" The man mocks

"You asked for it." You reply

In one swift motion, you phase backward through the man and kick him towards a desk that was in the room. As he falls over it you grab the letter opener and stab the man in the back with it hitting his heart. Undoing your parents' bindings you tell them,

"Stay here."

"But-" Your mom interjects

"STAY HERE" you command them

Within a second's time, you had phased through the door and into the middle of the upstairs hallway. Making yourself visible you use your powers to manifest the tiara in your hand and hold it up.

"Hey!" you yell grabbing the attention of the armed robbers "Looking for this?"

The angry men start to chase you but you turn invisible.

"Where'd she go?" One of them asks

One of the men walks down the hall to see if he can find you. Once the men are on two opposite side of the hall you reappear and taunt,

"If you want this crown you'll have to kill me for it."

The two men turn their guns on you and start to rapidly fire but you use your powers to make them go through you harmlessly and the two men end up killing each other. After you confirm they were incapacitated you hear a voice yell,

"Get back you freaks!"

Looking down from the balcony you see a man standing on top of the bank counter surrounded by Allison, Diego, and Klaus in their academy uniforms. You wonder when they got here but continue watching. the man points his gun at each of them he demands,

"Hey be careful up there buddy," Klaus comments

"Yeah, wouldn't want you to get hurt" Allison chimes

"Get back now!" The criminal demands

Five flashes behind the man so he is sitting criss-cross on the counter.

"Or what?" He asks with a cocky smile

The man turns his attention and gun to Five and starts shooting but Five had flashed away before any bullets could hit him. Flashing behind the man once more he crosses his arms, a serious look on his face. The man on the counter turns to him and starts clicking a stapler at him. Five looks down at the stapler before sarcastically commenting,

"That's one badass stapler."

Immediately after though Five forcefully pushes the man's hand. The stapler hits hard causing a gash in his head and the man to fall off the counter. Your jaw drops and your heart starts to race a little. 

"Damn," you whisper to yourself

Something about him kicking that guy's ass was really attractive to you. Forgetting that you were in the middle of fighting one of the robbers grabs you and takes the tiara out of your hand. You phase out of his arms and say,

"Either the crown goes down on the group or you go up in the air."

"You're not getting this back." The man states

"Alright, don't say I didn't warn you."

And with that you make it so this man's molecules are extremely light and hang him upside down in the air over the lobby of the bank. Freaking out he throws the tiara over the balcony and it lands by your feet. Not part of your plan but you are satisfied nonetheless. You continue to leave the man hanging as you watch your friends downstairs. Outside the vault five of the six children stand in a semi-circle around Ben.

"Do I really have to do this?" Ben asks

"C'mon Ben there are more of them in the vault," Luther says

"I didn't sign up for this," Ben says in a resigned tone

Ben enters the vault and begins to take out the men in their one by one. From across the room the man you were holding yells,

"Put me down!"

The five children left outside the vault switch their attention and see a man dangling upside down in the air. Looking slightly above him they can see you standing on the balcony above.

"I said put me down you crazy bitch!" 

"You got it." You reply with a smirk before making the man's molecules extremely dense

The man rapidly falls down towards the floor of the lobby and impales himself on a flagpole. Five looks up at you an admiring smile on his face and awe in his eyes (even if they were hidden behind a mask). He had never seen someone so beautifully kebob a man. 

"Wow." Five said to himself

The hostages in the bank start to run out of the building screaming. You transport yourself downstairs to the middle of the lobby and watch the bloodbath occur behind the translucent glass of the vault. When it stops you see Ben slowly step out from behind the door and he can be heard saying,

"Can we go home now?"

You see the children walk around the counter to make their way over to you. Even behind their masks, you could see the excitement in their faces especially that of Five. The children approach you but as they do you can see one of the men still alive get up and quickly make their way over to your group. Raising their gun up, they point it in their direction. He could've aimed at any one of you but he pointed his gun at Five. Quickly reacting you yell,

"Five watch out!"

You then transport your molecules so that you are between Five and the gunman. The gunman pulls his trigger but you push his arm up so that the shot hits the ceiling. You wrap your hand around his neck and look him in the eyes. Adrenaline rushing through your veins all you could think about was how this man almost killed the boy you loved. You were about to say something when

_*BANG*_

Your entire top part of your body was covered in red. The body of the man falls backward and you see that all that was left was the shoulders down. You blink a couple of times coming to the realization of what you just did. Slowly turning to the group of kids Diego exclaims,

"HOLY SHIT (Y/N), YOU BLEW HIS HEAD OFF! THAT'S SO COOL."

"Uh, thanks." you comment before gesturing to yourself and adding "Hey Ben, looks like we're twins now."

You see a smile appear on the face of the boy who didn't want to be here in the first place. He didn't say anything but it brought him comfort to know you were in the same boat as him. You watch as Five opens his mouth to say something but before he can you hear someone screaming your name from above you. Turning around you see your parents. You wave to them from the lobby floor.

"Hi, mom! Hi dad!" You say as if nothing was wrong

You and the Hargreeves kids all watch as your parents rush down the stairs to get to you. When your mom gets to you she crouches down looking all over you for injuries.

"Oh my god (Y/N) are you okay? You're all covered in blood!" She cries

"Don't worry mom, it's not my blood!" You say with a positive attitude

Your mom wails in distress at the sight of her baby covered in someone else's blood.

"Honey, I don't think that was the right answer." Your dad comments putting a hand on your mom's shoulder

"Oh uh, well then it is-" You start to say

"No don't finish that sentence, that's not it either." Your dad adds

Your dad helps your distressed mom off the floor and places a hand on your back escorting you all to the door. As the three of you walk he says,

"You know what. We're gonna go home and you're gonna get all that blood off you and then your mom and I are going to lay down for the rest of the day while you do whatever makes you happy for your birthday."

The six children watch as you make your way out the door with your parents but before you exit you turn to smile at them knowing that you would see them later. As soon as you leave the kids rush out to the front steps so that the public can acknowledge them for the first time. This was the most exciting birthday they had had so far but they all knew it would only get better once you came over to celebrate later.


	9. Birthday Cash Pt. 2

"Our world is changing. Has changed. There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted six such children. I give you the inaugural class of the Umbrella Academy." Reginald Hargreeves announces on the stairs of the bank

The six children stand behind him in two orderly rows of three as he addresses the reporters who were at the scene.

"Mr. Hargreeves, channel 9 news. What happened to their parents?" One reporter asks

"They were suitably compensated," Reginald responds

"Are you concerned about the welfare of the children?" Another reporter questions

"Of course, as I am for the fate of the world."

The cameras keep rolling and the reporters continue to ask questions but Mr. Hargreeves had said what needed to be said. Quietly, he walks down the steps of the bank and the children follow behind to make their way back home. When the children arrive back home they line up in the front hall just as they had done before leaving. Reginald turns his attention to them and comments,

"You were able to stop these criminals, but you can be quicker and more efficient. With more practice and more missions, you'll possibly be able to bring your performance up from your mediocre level to something more impressive."

Reginald then turns around and leaves the children to go to his office. When he is out of earshot the children start to talk with each other.

"I got covered in blood, on my birthday, to be called mediocre," Ben complains

"We all just got call mediocre on our birthday, Ben," Allison responds

"Yeah, but at least you didn't get a criminal blood facial," Ben replies "I'm going to take a shower."

Ben then walks away from his siblings, heading to the bathroom hoping that he can get all the leftover blood off him. Luther takes a look at Ben walking away before turning back to the remaining Hargreeves children and saying,

"There's no need for us to get hung up on that mediocre thing, he didn't mean it. I mean you heard what dad said with more practice and missions we'll become better. It's like tough encouragement." 

"I think there is something off with your hearing because I'm pretty sure that's not what he meant," Diego replies

'Well as number 1 I think I would know what dad means." Luther remarks

"You might be number one but at least I don't have my head so far up my butt that I can't see when I'm being insulted." Diego retorts

Noticing that they were about to fight, Klaus puts himself in between his two brothers and pushes them apart from each other.

"Listen, guys, it's still our birthday! The day isn't over yet and remember (Y/N) is going to come over later!" Klaus exclaims "This may or may not be the day some of you had hoped for but it's going to get better! Now, how about we just all try to be nice for the day?"

Diego and Luther look at each other before nodding in agreement. With the potential argument resolved the children decide to head their separate ways and try to occupy themselves for the day until you arrived. 

You on the other hand had been busy at home since you and your family got back from the bank. The first thing your parents did was to make you take a shower to get all the blood off of you. Your parents were absolutely shell shocked from the whole experience and you covered in another person's blood was not helping to make it any better. Once you were clean and had put on a different pair of clothes your mother immediately threw out the ones you had been in. When you came downstairs you saw both of your parents in the kitchen. Approaching them you say,

"Are you two going to be okay?"

"Uh, yeah sweetie we'll be fine. We just need to get some rest." Your dad says a glass of wine in his hand

"Is that to help you rest dad?" You ask gesturing to the glass

"Yes." He replies curtly

Your mom escorts your dad towards the stairs but before the two of them can walk upstairs to their room you ask,

"Hey mom, dad, do you think I can go to a friend's house for the night? They live down the block and they wanted to celebrate my birthday with me."

Your two parents look at each other and then back at you.

"Yeah, of course, sweetie, just let us know when you're leaving." Your mom says

"Okay!" you reply

Your mother and father then make their way up the stairs to their room. As soon as you hear the door close you go downstairs to the practice room that they had built for you. In there you had been hiding the gifts that you had gotten for all of the Hargreeves kids. You had heard from Five that they had never gotten presents on their birthday before and you wanted to change that. You had used the allowance money you had saved up over the months to get them gifts that they would enjoy. You knew they would probably like anything you got them but you wanted to make sure that each gift was extra special. Taking your time you wrapped each individual one and wrote a special note to each of the kids. You had finished all the gifts for each Hargreeves sibling except for the one that mattered most to you, Five. For the longest time you had no clue what to get him but this morning you were given the perfect gift. Realizing that you hadn't brought it down with you from your room you head back upstairs to go get it. As you pass your parents room you can hear them talking,

"How did she know how to do that?" Your dad asks

"Her powers?" Your mom asks back

"No, the kicking the man and stabbing him. Where could she have learned that?" He replies

"I don't know, but I don't think she meant it with malintent. She was trying to protect herself and us." Your mom says

"I know. I just, it was surprising. We never see her practice her powers so I guess I wasn't really ready to see the full extent of them in action." Your dad says defeat in his tone

"I get it, but she's still ours. Let's just get some rest and hopefully, things will feel back to normal soon." Your mom replies

Slowly you make your way to your room. We're your parents upset with you? Did they not like your powers? It's not like you could get rid of them even if you tired. They were just part of you. Confronting your parents isn't going to make things better so you decide to ignore it for now, no matter how much it weighed on your mind. Today was your day and you were going to make the best of it with your friends. Heading over to your desk you grab the two lockets that are used to unlock the diary replica that you got and a recent picture of yourself. Running back downstairs you cut out your head from the recent picture of you and put it in one of the lockets. You then put that locket in a tiny box and wrap it up with a nice ribbon. You then put the other locket on but hide it under your shirt so I can't be seen. With all the presents wrapped up, you bring them upstairs and shout to your parents,

"I'm heading out!"

You don't hear a reply and assume that the two of them have fallen asleep after the events of the morning and early afternoon. Grabbing all the gifts you make your way across the street through the gate and use your foot to knock on the front door. Typically you would just phase through to let yourself in but you were holding too many bags to phase yourself and everything else properly. When the door opened Grace was standing there and said,

"Oh hello (Y/N)! Happy birthday!" 

"Thank you!" You reply with a wide grin as you entered the house

Grace then calls out to the children and says,

"Children, (Y/N) is here!"

Within seconds you can hear the rushing of footsteps coming from all sides of the house. Five is the first one there as he flashes in front of you rather than run like everyone else but the rest of the siblings arrive soon after. They all greet you excitedly and everyone exchanges happy birthday wishes. 

"Are those presents?" Grace asks

"Yup, I got stuff for each one of you." You reply looking towards the seven siblings

"Wow! We actually get presents this year! Best birthday ever!" Luther exclaims

"Well, why don't we all make our way into the parlor and everyone can open their gifts." Grace directs

You and the Hargreeves children make your way into the parlor and all take a seat on different couches. You walk around handing out the presents to each one of the siblings except for Five. You wanted that one to be a surprise. When you finish you sit back down next to Five who looks at you confused. Quietly you whisper,

"Don't worry, you'll get yours later."

Five nods and turns his head back towards all his siblings who are quickly ripping the paper off their gifts. Excitedly you watch as the kids one by one open up their gifts from you. You watched the eyes of each sibling light up at the sight of what you had gotten them. Each gift for them contained a surface level present and then one that was more personal. 

For Luther, you had gotten him a book about positive leadership but also a phone number for a local jewelry store. Although it was still a bit confusing, he had legitimate feelings for Allison and he had confided that he wanted to give her something special to show his feelings. What better to get someone than a piece of jewelry. 

For Allison, you had gotten her Avril Lavigne's Let Go album and the red lip gloss that Alicia Keys was sporting recently but also a cast signed copy of the My Big Fat Greek Wedding movie script. Deep down Allison didn't want to be a superhero she wanted to be an actress and you wanted to show her that you believed she could get there. 

For Klaus, you got him an ouija board because he was always saying how he wished he could get used to his power by making it fun but you also had gotten him some nail polish. You always took notice of how he eyed the nail polish in Allison's room with a longing look in his eyes. More important than becoming more comfortable with his powers you wanted him to be able to become more comfortable with himself. 

For Vanya, you had given her a folder of sheet music for the violin and some pieces to duet you on the piano. You had also gifted her a miniature trophy in the shape of a number one inscribed with the words "Your individuality is more special than any power". Vanya had always felt like the rejected child of the bunch since she didn't have any powers but you knew otherwise. Vanya might not have had powers but nonetheless, she was worth appreciation and you wanted to show her that.

For Ben, you only got him one gift. You had gotten Ben a journal to write in. If his siblings actually took the time to sit and listen to him they would realize how calm and poetic his thoughts were. He was a kind soul with a lot of wonderful thoughts to express and you knew that. What made the journal more personal though was the quote you had written on the inside. "May the darkness within you find peace in the light". He was uncomfortable with the power he had. It was such a polar opposite to who he was as a person and he sometimes questioned why he had to be born with such darkness inside of him. You knew that but you wanted to reassure him that he was more than his power and hoped that by writing his feelings down in the journal he could find his peace in the light of his true existence.

And then there was Diego. For Diego, you had gotten him a brand new set of knives. You watched as he opened the case and saw the shiny set inside. They were completely silver in color with a line of holes going down the center. You saw him lift one of them up and admire it.

"They're extremely light so there's less air resistance when you redirect them. They're also more durable. Even I can't manipulate them...yet." You explain to him

You saw Diego look down in the case again and then back up at you. A smile was on his face but you could see the beginnings of tears in his eyes.

"They're just knives Diego, no need to get emotional," Luther comments

It wasn't the knives he was getting emotional at though. Inside the case was also a pronunciation dictionary. You knew there would be times where Grace or you weren't there to help him but you wanted to make sure that he never felt alone when it came to his stutter. Five was your best friend that you adored out of the Hargreeves siblings but Diego had become the only one who felt like a true sibling to you. Sure, all of the members of the Hargreeves family became like family to you, minus Reginald, but when it came to Diego he was your brother. With this pronunciation dictionary, you wanted to show him that you were his sister and you'd be there to support him even if you couldn't physically be present with him. Each of the siblings then thanks you for their presents. Their thank yous though were stated in such a way that it acknowledged the basic gifts everyone knew about but also expressed their gratitude for the more personal ones they received.

"Thank you, I think this gift will really help me," Luther says

"I can't believe you remembered how much this meant to me!" Allison exclaims

"This is really going to help me learn more about myself." Klaus comments

"I'm going to appreciate my gift forever." Vanya states

"The words in this journal will always mean a lot." Ben acknowledges

"I'll always keep this with me..." Diego whispered emotion still prevalent in his voice

The 6 siblings then got up with their gifts and made their way to their rooms to put them away. When the siblings had left Five asks,

"Want to go sit in the courtyard?"

"Sure!" You reply

The two of you race out to the courtyard and you two down on a bench. It was the exact same bench he had pushed you over the first day you met. Five turns to look at you and says,

"That stuff you did at the bank today was really impressive. Kebobing that man on the flagpole was really smart."

"Thanks but I think you were more impressive. Switching the gun with a stapler, now that's some quick thinking." You comment

The two of you smile and laugh for a bit at each other's praise, each of you thinking it wasn't as impressive as the other was making it out to be. Soon enough though a silence falls between you.

"Hey (Y/N)?" Five says

"Yeah?" You reply

"Thank you for saving me earlier today. None of us saw the guy coming. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what would've happened. I do have to ask though how did you blow that guy's head clean off."

"I don't know. I had no time to think about it, I just knew I had to stop the man from harming you." You explain

Another silence falls over the two of you. Five knew that you had saved his life and he could barely find the words to thank you for it. If something went wrong on your end you could've gotten hurt and yet you risked your life anyway to save him. He was glad everything went right but he could help but worry about the possibility of you getting hurt or killed. He didn't know what he would do without you. You were more than he could ever want and need in a best friend and the thought that he could've lost you floated around in his mind. Five is pulled out of his thoughts though when you say,

"Oh here's your birthday gift."

You pull a tiny box with a ribbon out of your pocket and hand it to him. Carefully he undoes the ribbon and opens the box. Inside he sees a heart-shaped locket.

"Let me explain the gift really quickly. So you recall the princess diaries movie that I've made you watch so many times?"

"Yes." Five responds

"And you remember the diary from it right?"

"How could I not you always talked about how cool it is." He jokes

"Well, my parents got me an exact replica of the diary and it has the same unlocking mechanism where you have to use the locket to open the diary. So I want you to have this since you're the only other person I trust other than myself to have access to it." You explain

"(Y/N) this is such an honor, but how will you open it if I'm not with you?" Five questions

"That's the other part." You say pulling the locket you were wearing already out from under your shirt "My parents gave me two so now we can match."

Taking his locket out of the box he opened it up and saw a picture of you inside it. Five truly loved his gift from you and put it on around his neck. Now he could keep you with him wherever he went.

"Can I give you your gift now?" He asks

"My gift? You got something for me?" you question

"Of course, it's your birthday too after all." He replies 

"My gift isn't you pushing me off the bench again is it?" You joke

"No, it's not," Five laughs before saying, "Just wait here." 

Five then flashes away but comes back a moment later holding a tiny gift bag in his hands. Holding the gift bag out he says,

"This is for you."

Five sits down next to you as you carefully take the tissue paper out of the bag. Reaching in your hand you pull out a beautiful music box. Opening it a tiny figure of two people dancing spins around as the music plays.

"I saw it and it reminded me of that time we danced together and I hoped it would remind you too." He comments

"Five, it's so beautiful. Thank you!" You say placing the gift gently back down in its bag

When you know the music is safe in the bag you place the bag on the ground and then proceed to hug him. You cherished the gift he had gotten you but more so you cherished him. Five hugs you back for a moment but then pulls back. He looks directly into your eyes as you look back into his blue ones. You could not tell who started first both of you start to lean into each other a bit. Before you two could get close though you can hear Luther exclaim excitedly from the doorway.

"Hey, guys! Grace was allowed to make us a cake this year! Come get some before it's gone!" 

The two of you quickly pull away from each other.

"Uh, let's go get some cake." Five suggests

"Yeah, let's do it." You say grabbing your gift bag from him

The two of you head inside to the kitchen where everyone is waiting around the table to eat cake. Grace places eight candles on the cake for each one of you to blow out. As the cake was dished out you thought about how much you enjoyed getting to celebrate with all of the Hargreeves kids, especially Five. You didn't know it then but it would be the first and last time you would all celebrate together for a while because one argument would change the course of all of your lives.


	10. Time Moves On (With Or Without You)

In the Hargreeves household, the day started out like any other one, with breakfast. With the ring of a bell, the uniformed children all filed in one line into the dining room and made their way to their seats. Quietly standing behind their chairs with their hands behind their backs they waited in silence for their father to arrive. Once he entered the room he stood behind his seat before commanding,

"Sit."

With that word the children pulled out their seats and sat at the table to eat, each of them quietly doing their own things. Luther and Allison exchanged small smiles to each other across the table, Diego secretly scratched a knife into the armrest of his chair, Klaus fiddled with some special paper under the table, Ben read a book by Anton Chekov and Vanya quietly ate her meal. There was one child who was having trouble keeping quiet on this day and that was Five. Although he had already done so much with his powers during missions and practice sessions he wanted to do more. He knew he could do more. Five wanted to time travel and it ate him up inside that his father wouldn't allow him. Instead of eating he stared down his father from the opposite end of the table. Anger and frustration building up inside him. When his anger boiled over he grabbed his knife and stabbed it into the table. The loud sound caused everyone to look at him.

"Number Five?" Reginald questioned

"I have a question." Five stated with contempt in his voice

The other children looked at their brother with concern and shock in their eyes.

"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you know the rules. No talking during meal times, you are interrupting Herr Carlson." Reginald replies

Unhappy with his father's response Five forcefully pushes his plate forward before saying,

"I want to time travel."

"No," Reginald says

"But I'm ready!" Five explains sitting up from his chair "I've been practicing my spatial jumps just like you said."

Five then jumps from his spot at the table to right next to his father's seat.

"See?" Five comments aggressively

"A spatial jump is trivial when compared with the unknowns of time travel. One is like sliding along the ice the other is akin to descending blindly into the depths of the freezing water and reappearing as an acorn." Reginald explains

With his hands balled up in his pockets, he cocked his head to the side and angrily said,

"No, I don't get it,"

"Hence the reason you're not ready," Reginald replies

From down the table, Five can see Vanya shake her head no as if to tell him to stop pushing the issue.

"I'm not afraid." Five retorts to his father

"Fear isn't the issue. The effects it might have on your body, even on your mind are far too unpredictable. Now I forbid you to talk about this anymore." Reginald commands

Five couldn't believe what his father was saying. Ridiculous how he didn't believe that Five could do it. Five was going to time travel and was going to prove that old angry man wrong. Turning on his heel he runs away from the table leaving his father, Grace, and his siblings behind.

"Number Five. You can't leave the table you haven't been excused! Come back here!" Reginald yells

Five didn't care what the old man had to say though. All he cared about was proving he was ready to time travel. He ran out the front door and through the gates of the house in which he lived. Angrily walking down the street he was determined to jump through time. The one thing he didn't expect was you latching on to him. You had seen Five leave his house from out your living room window. You quickly called out to your mom telling her you were heading out before teleporting your molecules over to your friend and grabbing on to him. With a flash of blue, he had jumped through time and brought you along with him. You didn't notice though because you were too busy trying to get him attention.

"Five!" You called out as he walked for a little bit taking in the surroundings

"Not ready my ass." Five mumbles to himself

With another time jump, the two of you were in a winter scene.

"Five!" You called again

Five had heard you this time and stopped. Turning around he saw you holding onto him. You let go and took a step back.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Five yells

"I saw you leave your house from my window and you looked upset so I wanted to make sure you were okay." You reply 

"I'm fine." Five states

"You don't seem fine is there anything I can do?" You question, concern evident in your tone

"You can go home." He answers

"But Five-" You start but are cut off

"You wouldn't fucking get it (Y/N)! Just leave me the hell alone!" Five yells

Before you can say anything he turns on his heel and jumps again leaving you standing there alone.

"Well screw you too I guess!" You yell at the spot where he just was

Turning around you make your way back to your house. Looking around you see the snow around you. You could've sworn there was no snow when you left and even if you just didn't notice it you wondered how you couldn't with the amount of snow on the ground. Shaking your head you make the walk back home wondering what could've gotten into your best friend. When you make it back to your house the door is locked. You were confused, your mom never leaves the door locked when you tell her you're going out. You start to knock on the door but when you get no response you start to bang on it and yell out,

"Mom? I'm home!"

When you get no response you try again banging and calling louder,

"MOM! I'M HOME! IT'S COLD OUTSIDE LET ME IN!"

You were about to call again when you hear a voice behind you say,

"Whacha doing kid?"

When you turn around you see a garbage man putting trash in the back of the garbage truck for the houses around yours.

"I'm calling for my mom to let me in. My family lives here," you explain

"Yeah don't we all wish our family could live in that house." He replies with a scoff

"What? No, I do live here." You reply

"Yeah, and I'm the king of England. Nobody has lived in that house for eight years." The man replies

"What do you mean eight years, it's 2002." You state

"We're you banging on that door with your head? It's 2013." The man states "The family that lived there's kid went missing 11 years ago. They stayed in the house for three years but just up and left when they couldn't deal with the grief. Rumor has it they went off the grid and can't be found."

You look at him confused and he says,

"Whatever. It's not my business." 

He then gets on the back of the truck and you can faintly hear him say,

"Weird kid."

You turn back around to look at the door. That man had to be crazy, you had only left a few minutes ago, there was no way it was 2013. Phasing inside the door the room is dark but you call out to your parents again,

"Mom! Dad! I'm back home." 

You get no response. You make your way over to the light switch to try and get some light in the but they don't work. Maybe there's a power outage from the snow? You then open the living room curtains but when the light from outside shows in there's nothing there. The TV, the couches, the coffee table, nothing. The room was empty. 

"Mom? Where did the furniture go?" You call out again

All you heard was silence. You made the way around the rest of your house. Emptiness was everywhere. Running upstairs you went into your bedroom. Everything was there like it was when you had left that day. Bed, toys, clothes, everything still in its place. Maybe your parents were just redoing the whole house. You made your way to your parent's bedroom you started yelling,

"Mom! Dad! Please tell me you're in there!"

You were about to bang on the door with your fists but with one hit the door slowly swung open. There was nothing here. Their bed was gone, their clothes were gone, your parents were gone.

"No, this can't be real..."

Your heart started to race a little faster. Where could they have gone? You only left a few minutes ago. You needed answers and if there was anyone who could explain what was going on it was one of the Hargreeves. They had to know what had happened. Without even a second thought you transported yourself from your parent's bedroom to the foyer of the Hargreeves house. In a panic, you started shouting the names of the Hargreeves kids,

"Ben! Diego! Allison! Vanya! Klaus! Luther! Five! Anyone?"

Frantically you looked around the empty house when you heard a voice behind you say,

"Excuse me, can I help you."

You recognized that sweet soft voice. Turning around you saw Grace standing there. She looked shocked.

"(Y/N)? Is that you?" She asks

"Of course it's me! Who else would I be?" You question

Grace slowly makes her way over to you. Gently cupping your face she looks at you and says in awe,

"You look the exact same as when I last saw you."

"Well of course! You only saw me yesterday. This last hour has been so crazy. First I chased after Five and he told me to leave him alone, and then I went home and no one answered and some garbage man told me how nobody lives in my house and my house is empty and according to the garbage man, it's 2013. Ridiculous right? Where are the kids I need to ask them some questions."

"Oh no, sweetie..." She says with a sympathetic look in her eyes

Grace doesn't say anything else she just looks at you sadly. Your heart dropped. This couldn't be real.

"Grace please where are the kids?" You pleaded tears starting to form in your eyes

"Well- they uh- they're not here anymore." She replies softly

"No! That can't be true! None of this can be true!" You shout before running off

"(Y/N)!" Grace calls

But it was too late because you had already run off.

There was no way that they weren't here. You ran to the library, typically Ben or Vanya would be there but when you got there you found nothing. Diego to Klaus was usually in the kitchen but nobody was there either. Running towards the bedrooms you opened every door looking for your friends. You checked in the courtyard, the dining room, everywhere. Tears leaving a path of where you had been. Each one of them was empty, abandoned as if no one had lived there. You ran back downstairs to check the parlor but when you got in there it was empty as well. All that was there was a painting of your best friend hanging above the fireplace. You turned your head and saw Grace standing there silently.

"I'm so sorry (Y/N)" she whispered

Your heart raced faster. You couldn't believe it. You didn't want to believe it. You turned your head back to look at the painting of your friend. The realization of your situation had started to set in and your body started to shake. You collapsed to your knees unable to support the weight of your body anymore. It felt as if you had just been punched in the gut and all of your breath was taken away. The tears started to fall faster from your eyes as you screamed,

"NO!"

Your voice was filled with grief as you let out painful cries of immense sorrow. You wrapped your arms around yourself to stop your shaking but it was no use. You were barely able to breathe as you screamed your pain into the empty silence of the house. There was no other sound except for you and at that moment you knew that you were alone. Your family was gone, your friends were gone, the person who mattered most to you was gone. The pieces of your life had fallen apart and you didn't know how to get them back.

At the same moment when you were coming to the realization of your new existence so was Five. After he had told you to leave him alone he had jumped once more through time. He looked around him and saw nothing but fire and destruction. With fear coursing through his veins he turned back around and ran as fast as he could towards the Umbrella Academy. When he arrived at the destroyed remnants of the building he called out into the rubble,

"Vanya! Ben! Dad!"

He received no response from inside the building so he turned around and shouted,

"Anyone!"

All that he could hear was the crackling of flames around him. This wasn't where he was supposed to be, he needed to get home. Five immediately tried using his powers to go back in time. 

"C'mon" he begged of his power

But there was nothing he could do. Realizing it was too late and he was stuck he turned back to look at the remains of what was once him home. Collapsing to his knees the feeling of sadness overwhelmed him. There was nothing left. Slowly he regained his strength to stand and made his way around the house. Finding an area that wasn't consumed by flames, he carefully started to explore. Out of the rubble, he saw a hand sticking out holding an eye. Curiously he walks over to the hand and takes the eye out of it. He examines the eye before moving to see the person there. It was a man. He then looks to his left and looks out amongst the rubble of the building. Running over to another man he spotted he roughly tries to shake them but it is useless as they don't move. He then passes a female person before heading over to another man. He stares at the figure and sees the marking on his wrist, an umbrella in a circle. These weren't just people, these were his siblings. He could feel himself getting choked up as he stood there amongst their lifeless bodies. They were his family and they were all gone. Before he could fully acknowledge the sight he heard a faint gasping coming from further back. Running towards it he sees another figure impaled on some metal rebar. He makes his way over but when he sees who it truly is his heart sinks.

"(Y/N)!" He calls out rushing to your side

Five kneels next to you and takes in the sight of you. You were older but not as old as his siblings. It must've been because you took those jumps through time with him. 

"(Y/N)" He says softly

Slowly you turn your head to him. You couldn't tell if you were imagining things but there was Five, your best friend, right in front of you. His blue eyes were full of sorrow.

"Five? Are you my angel here to take me to the light?"

"No, I'm here I'm real." He says tears forming in his eyes

He looks at the metal going through you. He had to get you out of here. He needed to.

"(Y/N) it's gonna be okay I'm going to get you out of here. You're going to be alright!" He says choking up

Five frantically starts looking for anything to stop your bleeding and help keep you alive.

"Five." You lightly call out

"Yes." He says turning his attention back to you

"The book." You say looking towards your hand caught under some rubble

Quickly Five removes the rubble and grabs what you were asking for. It was the diary you had gotten for your 13th birthday. Surprisingly it was undamaged compared to the world around him. Gently he brings to book to you.

"Here." He says

"Keep it." You reply weakly pushing it back towards him

Five places the book in the ground and turns back to you. Using what last bits of your strength you have, you lift your hand to the small boy's face and place your hand on his cheek. Five uses one of his hands to hold yours against his face. You can feel some of the tears that had fallen from his eyes on your hand.

"Are you still mad at me?" You ask faintly

"No, never. I could never stay mad at you." He replies his voice choking up more

"Good..." you answer quietly

You wrap your hand around your locket and then lay your head back and close your eyes. The smallest of smiles on your face as you let out a breath. Five watches waiting for your chest to rise and fall again but it doesn't. Grabbing your shoulders he starts to shake you.

"(Y/N)! (Y/N) wake up! Please I needed you here! I need you with me! Please!" Five cries out

It was too late, you were gone. Holding what he could of your lifeless body he lets all the tears flow from his eyes. His painful cries of sorrow echoing throughout the empty landscape. He had lost you and was completely alone. And so in the same exact place, in two different times, you and five dealt with the same harsh truth. Everything you loved was gone and life would never be the same.


	11. Lost In The Past

You didn't know how long it had been since you started crying but there came a point where you could cry no more. The tears no longer fell and your screams were nothing more than gasps of air. You felt empty like every last bit of emotion inside you was just released into the hollow house. Wiping the tears from your eyes you felt a gentle hand stroke your hair.

"There there, why don't we go get you some food to eat? You must be hungry after all that crying." Grace says

You turn your head to look at her and give her a small nod. Grace extends her hand to help you stand from the floor and when you stand she wraps an arm around you, guiding you to the kitchen. Sitting you down at the kitchen table, Grace starts to cook while you try to come to terms with your new reality. You had so many questions and yet you weren't sure if you had the words to vocalize them.

"Grace?" You call

"Hm?" She replies

"What happened since I've been gone?" You question softly

"Well George W. Bush served as president until 2008 when Barack Obama was elected to the presidency. The company Apple invented the iPhone in 2007 which revolutionized technology by giving phones touch screens. Youtube, Facebook, and other social media platforms grew to international success during the time you were gone. The-" Grace replies but you cut her off

"No, I mean...what happened here?" You say

Grace stops cooking for a second and turns to you.

"Oh. Well, you and Five went missing on the same day eleven years ago and things were never quite the same. Your disappearances took a toll on both your family and ours. I remember that about three years after you left, your parents packed up and moved to wherever they went. They were so distraught and I don't blame them it's very difficult to lose a child. I recall that back then Diego really tried his best to track them down in case you ever came back."

"What happened to Diego? And the others?"

"Diego left the house right when he turned eighteen, and Vanya, Klaus, and Allison left shortly thereafter which happened about six or so years ago. Luther stayed but now he's up on the moon doing some important research for Mr. Hargreeves!"

"You forgot about Ben." You state

"Oh right...Ben. Ben died on a mission in 2006. I don't know if you saw in the courtyard but there's a memorial statue for him there."

"He died?" You reply shocked

Grace nods. 

"Yes and that was the straw that broke the camel's back, after you and Five went missing, and Ben's death, the rest of the children had no desire to stay in the house. It's difficult having to lose all your children one by one..." Grace states before putting on a chipper voice "Anyway here's a grilled cheese sandwich!"

"Oh." You say surprised at her quick shift of emotion "Uh, thank you."

"No problem (Y/N). Feel free to walk around the house and if you need anything else just ask! I'll be in the laundry room." Grace says before leaving

As she exits the kitchen and heads upstairs to the laundry room, you stare at the grilled cheese before pushing the plate away and putting your face in your hands. Everything felt like it was moving at a million miles per hour and you couldn't make it stop. You needed to get your mind off of things. Lifting your head out of your hands you stand up and grab your sandwich off the plate and walk towards a calendar on the kitchen wall. It read November 22nd, 2013. You shook your head and decided to leave the room. Strolling out of the kitchen and around the Umbrella Academy, you look at paintings of the former academy members. With each painting, the number of kids grew less and less as if time was making them disappear. You continue to walk around as you eat your sandwich taking in the empty sights. Passing different rooms, memories replayed in your mind so strongly that it was like you were right there in them again. You could practically see and hear the Hargreeves kids running down the halls and fighting with each other in those dumb uniforms they used to wear but you knew those experiences were just in your mind. This building had become a haunted house filled with the ghosts of past memories that would never come back. Looking outside at the snowy scene you decide to brave the elements and head out to the courtyard. This time instead of frantically looking for signs of life you take in the sight of death. You make your way over to the statue of what looks to be an older version of Ben. The statue has a solemn look on its face as it looks down on you.

"I guess you're the only one left here." You comment to the statue

You got no response. You didn't expect one but it was worth a shot. You looked down at the pedestal the statue was on and read the epitaph.

_May the darkness within you find peace in the light_

You wrote that to him in the journal you gave him for all of your 13th birthdays. Things really had changed while you were gone. With the cold starting to set in, you head back inside and go stand in the parlor next to the fireplace. Looking up at the painting of Five once more, a mix of emotions started churning inside you. Anger, grief, confusion, hurt. All of them overwhelmed you.

"You know this is all your fault Five." You start to rant to the painting "If you hadn't gotten mad about whatever it was you were mad about neither of us would be in this situation."

You pace back and forth in front of the fireplace, your feelings of hurt and anger growing stronger like the flames before you. You continue to yell louder at the painting in front of you,

" _Oh leave me alone (Y/N) you wouldn't get it_. Bullshit! Do you see what you've done? Look at me! I have no family, no home, no friends, nothing because of you and your stupid superiority complex! All of it is gone! Do you hear me?"

By this point, you were actively staring down the painting, pointing and screaming at it,

"I HAVE NOTHING! NOTHING BECAUSE OF YOU! I LOST EVERYTHING AND THAT INCLUDES MY BEST FRIEND! HOW DARE YOU FIVE! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Child, yelling at the painting is not going to console your grief." You hear a voice say from behind you

Turning around you find Mr. Hargreeves to be standing there.

"Why do you keep the painting up then?" You retort crossing your arms

"I keep it up to remember the boy." he answers, "I told him not to mess with time travel but he refused to listen."

"He thought he was better than everyone." You comment

"He thought he was better than most people, not all, but most." Reginald replies "Now if you're going to be staying here there are going to be rules that you need to follow."

"Who said I was staying here?" You remark

"You have other accommodations?" He questions

You let out a huff. 

"No." you reply annoyed

It was true, you had nowhere else to go and this was probably your only chance of having a home of sorts. You heard the stories of what it was like to live with Reginald and although you didn't want to, you knew that you had no other choice.

"Very well. I will have Pogo inform you of the daily schedule of eating, training, and studying."

"Slow your roll old man, training?" you question raising an eyebrow

"Of course. To develop your powers." He responds blankly

"Listen, if I'm going to live here and have to deal with your rules then I have some conditions. First, I will train my powers and let you research them but do NOT expect me to put on a little uniform and become the only member of the second class of the Umbrella Academy. That's not happening. Second, if you want me to learn something it will wait until the weekend because during the week I want to go to school. Third, I have autonomy of where I go both inside and outside this house. I am not going to live my life solely in one bedroom. Do I make myself clear?" You demand

"I see time hasn't dulled that sharp tongue and insolent attitude of yours." Reginald remarks

"Well what eleven years is to you has been like two hours to me." you retort

"Fine. I agree with your conditions and the schedule will be adjusted accordingly but you MUST stick to it and the house rules or I will not tolerate your requests further." Reginald replies

"Deal." You state curtly

"I'll have Grace deal with your living accommodations. Now keep quiet."

"One more thing. You got his eyes wrong, they're a brighter blue." You say gesturing to the painting of Five

Reginald turns to walk away and you flop down on the couch. This is not what you expected when you woke up that morning...eleven years ago. All of it was still so surreal and you didn't know what to do. So you did nothing, you just laid on the couch staring at the ceiling silently and let the world pass by as it had done already. You didn't notice how much time had gone by until you heard Grace call out,

"(Y/N)!"

"I'm here." You reply sitting up from the couch

"Mr. Hargreeves told me that you're going to be staying with us. I'm so happy to hear that! Now I have the pleasure of being able to take care of you too!" She says happily "Let's get you situated!"

Grace and you walk upstairs and into the hall that housed the former rooms of the children.

"You can pick whichever room you want!" Grace explains "Allison's room is all set up in terms of having girlier items, and Vanya's room is smaller but it's barren so you can decorate it however you want! Luther and Ben's rooms are super organized! We can always redo Klaus or Diego's rooms and there's always Fi-"

"I'll take a look at the rooms and let you know." You quickly shoot out

Grace gives you a slightly shocked look before smiling and saying,

"Oh alright, I'm going to make dinner then. Just let me know before bedtime so I can get some clean sheets for you."

You didn't mean to cut off Grace but Five's room was the only room you didn't check earlier. Going in there wasn't something you were prepared to do right now and it definitely wasn't the one you were going to stay in. It would hurt too much, not only because of all the memories made in there but because it looked right across at your old room which was now frozen in time. Passing the closed door of Five's room you walk down the hall and carefully examine all the other options. You saw that Allison and Luther had two of the largest rooms, and you were surprised you couldn't find a hole cut in their shared wall to secretly enter each others. Nevertheless, Luther had only left recently so you didn't want his room and Allison's room had too much of her stuff in it and you knew even with rearranging you couldn't make it feel like your own. Making your way down the hall you saw Vanya's barren room but decided against it because it was too small. Klaus' room was too messy even though he hadn't been there for years and you felt weird about staying in Ben's room since it was still his when he passed away. All that was left was Diego's room. It wasn't as large as Luther's or Allison's but it wasn't as small as Vanya's. You still felt a little awkward about taking it but out of all the options it was the best choice. Hearing a bell ring you went down to the dining room for dinner. Mr. Hargreeves was already there standing behind his seat at the head of the table. You stood behind the seat at the opposite head.

"Sit." He commanded

You sat down and Grace dished out food for both you and Mr. Hargreeves. The dinner was silent, the only sounds were that of the silverware clanking against your plates. When finished you excused yourself from the table. As you were walking away Grace asked,

"Did you pick a room?"

"Ah yes, I'll be staying in Diego's room." You answer

"Well it's not Diego's room anymore silly, it's yours! I'll go get some fresh sheets for the bed."

As you head to Diego's room you quickly get an idea to try and make the room more of your own. Transporting yourself to your old room you grab three items before transporting yourself back to the academy. As you approach Diego's room with the items in your arms you see that Grace had finished making the bed. Entering, you place the items on the desk. The diary replica that your parents gave you, the music box, and the teddy bear that Five gave you. It wasn't much but the items comforted you. Putting on a pair of pajamas you got ready for bed. As you pulled the bedsheets down Grace appeared behind you in the doorway and said,

"Goodnight (Y/N), sleep well."

She started to walk away when you called out,

"Grace?"

"Yes (Y/N)?" she replies

"Do you- do you think you could tuck me in?"

You saw as her expression was both happy and sad in a way. Like there was a piece missing that you somehow filled with that question.

"Of course," She replied a smile coming on to her face

You got into the bed and Grace happily tucked you in. Pulling the covers a top of she couldn't help but feel a sense of completeness that she lost years ago. The house had been so empty since all the kids left, but now she had someone to take care of and although the circumstances were less than great for you she wanted to make sure that she could give you the best. Quietly, she turned the light off and closed the door so you could fall asleep. 

After that day the Hargreeves house had become your home. Over the next month, you moved most of your stuff from your old room to your new one. Having your stuff helped to make the transition easier although it also made you miss your past. To pass the time, you religiously wrote in the replica diary about each day but instead of writing _Dear Diary_ for each entry, you wrote _Dear Five_. You hoped that if he came back one day you could give him the diary to read about what you were up to so it was like he was always there with you. With some help, you got enrolled in school but wouldn't start until after winter break. Even as you settled into the routine of training and living, you still felt all the emotions that you had that first day. You knew you wouldn't get over them immediately but you wished you had a better outlet. Going to Grace one day you asked her,

"Grace, do you have any ideas on how to get these negative feelings out in a healthy way? I know they won't go away but I'm hoping I can make them less strong."

"Hmm. Well if you put the energy that you spend on those feelings into different activities it might help. You could play the piano again or you can take up a physical sport. I heard boxing is really good for taking negative energy out." Grace responds "Actually I think there is a boxing club in the area. How about you check it out?"

"Alright, I can try that. Do you think they're open though, it is Christmas Eve?" You reply

"If my knowledge is correct, this one is open 365 days a year." Grace replies

You nodded and once you had figured out where it was you put on exercise clothes. Grace bundled you up in a warm jacket and with that, you walked your way over to the boxing club. Entering you approached a desk where an old man sat.

"Hi, I'd like to learn to box." You say

"You're a little small to learn, don't you think?" He replies

"I have a hundred dollars that say I'm not too small." You state holding up the bill

"Can't argue with that." The old man says taking the cash

He escorts you over to a punching bag.

"Wait here, I'll get you someone to teach you." He says before turning his attention "Hey Kraken, get your ass over here. I need you to teach this kid."

Slowly a man steps out of the boxing ring where he was practicing and walks over to where you and the old man are. The old man walks away as the younger man takes off his gear. He says,

"Hey, I'm-"

But he stops abruptly. The man just stares at you blankly.

"Are you okay?" You ask

"Sorry, you look like someone I used to know." He says

Something about this man felt familiar but you couldn't place it. The man sticks out his hand to shake yours. You go to shake it but when you look down at his wrist he has an all too familiar marking there, a tattoo of an umbrella in a circle. You look at the tattoo before looking up again at the man and start to recognize the features of the boy you used to know, now all grown up.

"Diego?" you question softly

"H-h-how did you know my name?" He stutters

"I knew it because you do know me. It's me, (Y/N)," you reply softly

You can see the confusion on his face turn into a softer expression. Although it might not have been evident to his other siblings, Diego was a deeply emotional person and you saw that exact look you were seeing in his eyes many times before when you two were younger.

"No. It can't be. You look exactly the same, you should be my age." He questions, the emotion on his face becoming more evident

"Accidentally traveling through time will do that to you. Please you have to believe me Eggo." You begged

He was having doubts that it was truly you but that all went away when you called him that name. It was a dumb nickname you gave him when one time Luther refused to let go of him. You kept exclaiming "let go my Eggo" as you tried to use your powers to get Luther off. No one else but you ever knew of that. Tears formed in Diego's eyes but quickly after he wrapped his arms around you and picked you up.

"Hey everyone! My sister is back! We thought she went missing but she's back!" Diego exclaims to the people in the boxing club

There are some cheers and congratulations shouted from across the gym as Diego puts you back down. For so long he hoped that you would come back and now here you were like a Christmas miracle. You were more like a sibling to him in the short amount of time he knew you than his own siblings were. Instead of learning to box the two of you talked. You explained everything that you had gone through and your current living situation. He didn't like that you were living in that house with his father but he knew that he didn't have the means to house you nor properly take care of you. One thing he did know is that he was going to make sure that after all this misery you could have a better life. Even though time had gone on and he was older now you were still like a sister to him but now you were his little sister and he was determined to protect you from any harm the world might throw your way. He was going to be the best older brother he could be to you and make sure that you would not have to face the life he did.

And so for the next five years, Diego was there for every important moment in your life, always trying to support you and make it better. He dropped you off on your first day of school when the spring semester rolled around and every first day after. He went to every piano recital you had and sat front row. When there was a father-daughter dance fundraiser he went to make sure you weren't alone. He trained you and coached you in boxing and was there for every single match. He planned a huge sweet 16 birthday party using what money he had. He was the one who took you on your first college visits when you were 17. He took time out of his days to practice working on your powers. For everything, he was there and on top of that, he regularly took you out of the house to spend time with you. You were his little sister, his true sister and he wanted you to know it.

Along with everything Diego did for you, you were grateful for some of the things you had gotten in the Hargreeves house. After about a year or so you stopped calling Grace by her name and started to call her mom. If androids could cry tears of joy Grace would have the first time that word left your mouth. Pogo had convinced Reginald to get you a piano play and in an odd act of kindness, he did. Along with that, your powers developed greatly under the supervision of Reginald and Pogo. You were able to do more in terms of manipulating the molecules in the world around you and were able to start seeing disturbances in them as well. Life wasn't perfect but through the years it got easier. But although you were growing up and trying to move on with your life, even after all those years Five never left your mind for a second. You missed him greatly and hated that the last words the two of you shared were ones of anger. You wondered if he was still mad at you. Each moment of every day Five still consumed your mind and you hoped that wherever he was, in another time and place, that he was doing okay and that one day he would come back to you.


	12. The Missing Five Years - "Lost In The Past" Side Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a side story. What that entails is that you don't need to read this part to understand the main storyline. This part takes place outside of the main storyline and is meant to give more context to the characters, specifically the reader character. Although you don't have to read side stories I think they're interesting as would recommend them.

**January 6th, 2014**

You were nervous this morning. Today would be your first day at your new school. It had been about a month and a half since you arrived in the future and all of the people you were about to attend school with were kids technically younger than you. You had knowledge of times when they didn't even exist and you worried about saying something out of date and being the odd one out. You were already the new kid so you were at a disadvantage to start with. As you sat at the kitchen table for breakfast you went over your notes of what was popular during this period. You looked at top songs, popular bands, different media platforms, current fashion trends, things called memes, and anything else so you could fit in.

"Here's your breakfast! Are you excited for your first day of school?" Grace asks

"Kind of. I've only ever been to private school so going to a public school will be different." You explain "I just hope I can fit in."

"I'm sure you will! You're a wonderful person and anyone would be lucky to know you." Grace replies

Taking a break from your notes you eat some of the breakfast that Grace had made for you. Two eggs and bacon in the shape of a smile. As you finished you looked at the time and saw that you needed to head out and get to school. Grabbing your backpack you say,

"Bye Grace, I'll see you later."

"Have a good first day!" She calls out

You make your way upstairs and outside the front gates when you see a familiar face in front of you leaning on a car.

"Diego? What are you doing here?" You ask

"You thought I wasn't going to see you off on your first day of school?" He asks

"I just didn't expect it." You reply

"Well, here I am so hop in," Diego says getting in the driver's side of the car

You walk around to the other side and get in the front passenger seat. You and Diego make the drive over to your school and when you arrive he asks,

"You ready?"

"Yeah, I guess so." You reply unsure

"Hey look at me. You are smart and brave and more powerful than any of those kids. You're going to do great and if anyone bothers you" He says taking out a knife "you let me know and I will handle them."

"Don't kill them!" You exclaim

"I won't, I'll just rough them up a bit." He replies avoiding your gaze

"Okay, I'm going now." You say getting out of the car

Diego gets out of the car and says,

"Wait one second!"

"What?" You ask turning around

"Stand there so I can take a picture," He requests

"Oh my god, are you serious?" you complain

"Aw c'mon, please?" He asks

"Fine."

You put on a smile and Diego pulls out his phone to take a couple of pictures of you standing in front of your new school.

"Eudora is going to love these, I've been telling her all about you." He mentions looking at his phone

Once he puts his phone away he comes over to you and gives you a big hug before getting back in his car. Through his window, he tells you, 

"Have a good day."

And with that, he drives off and you were on your own at this new school. Walking into the entrance you make your way to the front office and tell them who you are. The secretary, an older woman, then gets up from her seat and guides you to what would be your homeroom class. Since you were coming in the middle of the year the teacher introduces you to the rest of the students. To your surprise, they aren't rude or exclusionary and during your free period and lunch, you get to know a few of them. Using your knowledge of popular things that you studied you're able to get by talking about stuff outside your interests. The kids who talk to you seem pretty nice and you think you'll be able to become friends with them. Even though you were making friends you couldn't help but think of Five. None of these kids would ever compare to him no matter how much you got to know them but you at least needed to give them a chance. And so throughout your first day and the days after you were able to build a group of people you'd want to be around during school hours.

**July 17th, 2015**

"Again." Reginald commands

All-day with no breaks, you had been practicing to develop your powers. Ever since school finished Reginald had been pushing you harder to develop your powers. Day in and day out you would train. There were physical exercises, self-defense, power development, mental sharpness tests. It was excruciatingly long and you never stopped. At this moment you were practicing to detect slight disturbances before you could see them. Reginald had finished training you to do your powers without concentration being necessary. You were able to control your own molecules and that of other things without thinking. You could transport yourself and other objects with ease. You even improved to the point of being able to see the types of molecules around you and use them to create other things beyond, fire, water, and smoke. Now he wanted you to use that ability to see the molecules around you and make it instinctual to detect disturbances in them. So he had you geared up and blindfolded and had Pogo shoot paintballs at you. You didn't understand how blindfolding you was going to help you see the molecules since you didn't have your eyes but you went along with it anyway. You had been the same exercise for about a month and a half at this point and with each day you were starting to get better. When you first started you got hit with paintballs consistently but now you were able to feel the disturbances in the molecules around you and were able to dodge the paintballs. As much as you hated the way Reginald went about things you were impressed with the progress you were making. You kept going at this until you heard Grace call out,

"(Y/N), you need to get ready for your piano recital."

With that, you took your blindfold off and asked to be excused. Reginald let you go and you rushed off to get ready for your performance tonight. You had been practicing your piano and when you learned that there were auditions to represent the school in a summer music showcase you took it upon yourself to make sure you got the singular spot for your school. Every moment you had free you spent practicing and now came the day you were waiting for. You put on a nice white shirt and a black skirt before heading downstairs. You looked at the time on the clock and saw that if you didn't leave soon you would be late for roll call. 

"Oh no, where's my sheet music?" You said frantically as you just remembered it

"Don't worry, I have it right here." Grace calls handing you the folder with your music

"Okay thank you! I better get going." You say quickly "Bye mom!"

And with that, you had rushed out the door and started making your way to the performance hall not too far from where you lived. You weren't there to see it but Grace became overwhelmed with feeling as no one had called her mom in a while. She was never going to make you call her that but for you to accept her as another mother to you meant the world. She stood in the foyer for a second staring at the door you had just left from taking in the moment. After a bit, she went off to her bench near all the paintings to start a new cross stitch hoping you would continue to call her that when you came back home. 

You had made it to the hall just in time and when it came for your turn to play you made your way out on stage. Sitting right there in the front row was Diego. With a big smile on his face, he used his phone to take pictures as you made your way to the piano in the center of the stage. You gave him a small wave before sitting down to play. Placing your music on the stand you took a deep breath. You knew what you were doing, you had practiced for weeks. With the crowd dead silent, you started to play. You played your heart out, putting every ounce of emotion and effort into your performance. This was your moment and you made every second of it count. When you had finished the crowd gave you an overwhelming amount of applause. You stood up from the piano bench to take a bow and as you did you saw Diego standing up and cheering you on. You could tell from the way that he was looking at the people around him and point towards the stage that he was bragging about you, tell them all how you were his talented little sister. You took one more bow before walking off and when the showcase finished Diego walked you home.

"You did amazing! I'm so proud!" He exclaims

"Thanks. I'm proud of me too."

It was a short walk and before you knew it you were back home.

"I'll see you this weekend to train and box alright?" He says

"Alright Eggo, see you then."

Diego walks off as you make your way inside the house. When you get inside you go and find Grace calling out,

"Mom! Mom! I did so well tonight!"

Grace stops her cross-stitch. Turning her attention to you she says,

"I knew you would sweetie! Now, why don't we go get you ready for bed."

"Okay!" You reply running off

As you run off, a wide smile on Grace's face as she knew you calling her mom would most likely be a constant from now on.

**May 14th, 2016**

"Listen if you're nervous or worried about getting hurt then you don't have to do this. You can back out right now and I can take you back home." Diego says concerned

"Diego I think you're the worried one." You comment

Tonight was your first real boxing match. After two years of practicing with Diego, you felt that you were ready to get out there and fight. There were no other girls to fight you so you were going against a guy from a rival boxing club. You were excited to step in the ring and take this dude on but even after the years of training you've done Diego was still worried about your safety.

"Okay maybe, but I don't want to see you get hurt out there." He replies

"We've been training for this moment. I'm ready and if I take a few punches so be it. I'm not a helpless little princess." You explain

"But you are a little princess... _to me_. If you got hurt I would kill everyone and then myself for not doing a good job keeping you from harm." Diego explains back

"It worries me that I know you mean that sincerely," you reply

You were about to say more when you hear the announcer call you and your opponent to the ring. You nod at Diego and make your way over there. Entering the ring the announcer introduces you and the other guy to the crowd. The crowd cheers and the announcer gives to go-ahead to start. The two of you circle the ring for a bit before the guy throws a punch at you. You're able to dodge it and punch him right in the gut. When he doubles over you throw a couple of jabs at his head hoping to throw him off his rhythm. As he comes back up the guy you were fighting nails a hard blow on your jaw. You stumble back a bit but regain your balance and head back. The two of you go blow for blow, for the next couple of rounds landing solid hits on each other. The guy stumbles towards you and you know this could be it using all the strength you have you swing towards his jaw and hit him straight on. The guy you were fighting falls to the ground and is out cold. The ref comes and does the countdown and when it is evident that the guy was knocked out completely the ref raises your hand and declares you the winner. It took you a second to realize what you had done but when you do you exclaim,

"Holy shit I won!"

Diego and some of the other guys from your club lif you up into the air cheering for your victory. This win would be one to remember for a long time.

**October 1st, 2016**

Sunlight shined through your curtains as the sounds of the city outside you started to wake you. Slowly you sat up and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. When your eyes came into focus you took a look at the calendar you hung beside your bed. The date of it read October 1st, 2016. Today was your birthday. You got up from your bed and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

"Happy sixteenth birthday!" Grace exclaims "I made you some pancakes because it's like the cake of breakfast."

"Thank you, mom." You reply sitting down

She had put some strawberries as eyes and some whipped cream as a smile. Birthdays had always been a bit calmer ever since you arrived almost three years ago but you were grateful for what you did receive. Each birthday you spent the morning with Grace and the afternoon and evening Diego would take you to do something special. You looked forward to what he had in store this year. 

"I almost forgot, I have a present for you!" Grace says handing you a box

You undo the ribbon on the box and take the lid off. Pulling the item out you see that it is a beautiful knee-length dress.

"This is wonderful, how did you get it?." You ask still in awe of the gift

"Well, I was going through some of Allison's old clothes and saw a couple of items that I thought I could sew together to make a more modern dress for you. I hope you like it."

"I love it Mom, thank you!" You say gently putting it back in the box.

Finishing your breakfast you give Grace a hug before taking the box and heading upstairs. You were absolutely going to wear this dress today. Putting it on you look at yourself in the mirror for a while. You really looked nice in the dress. You spent some time in your room writing in the diary that you had to tell Five about your day so far. When you finished writing for now you looked at the time and headed out to the curb. You knew Diego would be picking you up soon. You waited outside for a bit before seeing his car drive up.

"Happy birthday princess, hop in!" He says from his car window

You slide into the passenger seat of the car and Diego starts to drive away from the house.

"You look nice," He says

"Thanks, Mom made it for me." You reply "What are we doing today."

"Ah well that is a surprise, you'll see." He says

The two of you drive around for a while and do a couple of activities. He takes you to the movies and a nice bakery for lunch. A little less exciting than prior years but you were happy nonetheless. The two of you pull into a parking lot and Diego says,

"I ordered some food from this venue, can you come in and help me carry it out?"

"Sure!"

The two of you head inside but when Diego opens the doors to the venue there stood all your friends from school. Looking around you see decorations from wall to wall and a DJ in the corner. You turn to Diego and ask,

"What is all this?"

"You think I wasn't going to give the little princess a royal sweet sixteen party?" He replies with a smile "Now put this on and have a blast."

Diego hands you a tiara and you enter the venue to meet all of your friends. You were so surprised and extremely grateful for what he had done. He must've saved up a bunch of money from his janitor and boxing jobs to afford this. You and your friends ate, danced, and celebrated your big day all thanks to your older brother, Diego.

**November 22nd, 2017**

Today was exactly four years since you arrived in the future back in 2013 and started living in the Hargreeves house. Over those four years, you had done many things. You had gone to school, made some friends, became a stellar piano player, had a good boxing record, developed your powers further than you thought you ever could but there was one thing you still hadn't done. You still hadn't gone into Five's old room. Every day for the past four years you had passed it multiple times but you dared not to enter as you feared it would hurt you too much. And as you walked back to your room from dinner you passed the room once more but this time instead of just heading to your room you stopped in the hall. Turning around you stared at the door. Slowly you took steps towards it. Now as you stood in front of it you wondered why you were so compelled to do this, nevertheless, you slowly reached your hand out to the doorknob. Grabbing it you hesitantly turn it and hear the click of the door opening. You gently push the door open and turn on the light switch. And there it was, his room. You stepped into the room and looked around. Everything was just as it was the last time you saw it all those years ago. Desk in the same spot, closet still full of uniforms, the bed was perfectly made. The room was untouched. You remembered all the times you had in here. This is where you told him you had powers, this is where you two hung out, this is where you danced with him that one night. This wasn't just a room, this was where you two became best friends. As you walk further into the room you see his old domino mask laying on his desk. Gently, you blow the dust off of it. You always thought the mask looked good on him. Walking over to his bed you lay down on it. Holding the mask close to your chest, you close your eyes. You missed Five more than anything in the world. You wished day in and day out that he would come back. But he hadn't as of yet and you wondered if he ever would. You kept hoping though. You hoped that wherever he was he missed you just as much as you missed him and you hoped that one day he would come back to you. So as you laid there on his bed holding the domino mask you remembered all the good times with your best friend. And for the first time in a long time, you felt a bit more at peace.

**March 17th, 2019**

Your heart was racing with excitement as the night you had been looking forward to finally arrived. All school year you had been excitedly waiting for prom night and now here you were getting ready to go. You had spent all day getting ready with the help of Grace. You had been sitting in the bathroom for who knows how long as she did your hair and makeup to make sure that you looked perfect.

"What do you think sweetie?" She said getting you up to look in the bathroom mirror

"Oh my gosh, I look beautiful Mom!" You exclaim

"You were already beautiful sweetie, you just have some makeup on now." Grace replies

You quickly turn to her and give her a big hug.

"Thank you, Mom!"

"It's nothing, now you need to go put your dress on." Grace states

You nod to her and head to your room. You go to your closet and grab your prom dress from it. It had been sitting in there in its protective bag for months. Finally, the day had arrived for you to wear it. Taking the dress out of the bag you carefully slip it on. When you finally get the zipper of the dress up you put on your shoes and jewelry before you hear Grace call,

"(Y/N), come down here!"

Grabbing your purse and prom ticket you head out of your room and towards the foyer stairs. As you make your way down them you see Grace and Diego waiting at the bottom.

"Oh, honey you look beautiful." Grace compliments

"You look like a real-life princess." Diego adds

You can see tears forming in Diego's eyes. He is such an emotional person even if he wants to put out to the world that he is tough and strong.

"Diego, are you crying?" You ask

"No, it's just dust in my eyes." He replies wiping his face

"But I dusted yesterday," Grace says

"It's just d-d-dust..." he stutters "Here let me take some pictures."

"Diego you take way too many pictures." You comment

"Just keep quiet and take the pictures," He says

You roll your eyes before posing on the stairs and smiling so that he can take pictures of you in your dress. After he takes solo shots of you he takes some of you with Grace and then has Grace take some of you with him. He had to show her how to work the camera on his phone though before that could happen. After that, he was able to set up the timer on his phone and take a picture of the three of you together.

"Now that's a nice photo. Looks like I got a new lock screen." He says "Oh one more thing. I know you don't have a date for the prom, which is good because you're too young to date, but anyway I got you this."

Diego then pulls out a pretty corsage for you to wear to the prom and you put it on.

"Aww thank you Eggo," You say giving him a hug

From outside you can hear a car honking. 

"Oh, that must be my friends. I'll be back later Mom and I'll see you soon Eggo."

"Have fun!" Grace replies

"Be safe." Diego states

Rushing out the front door you hop in the limo that you rented with your friends and head over to the venue hosting your prom. As the limo drives and you talk to your friends you feel like good things are going to happen this year and you couldn't wait to see what comes next.


	13. Lost In The Future

After you had taken your last breath, Five held you close to him. Kneeling there with you in his arms he solemnly thought about what he had done. Why did he do it? Why did he have to get so angry and run away? Why couldn't he have just listened and sat back down? And then when you chased him, he brought you through time with him and he left. He told you to leave him alone and then he stranded you. It was bad enough that he was stranded in this time alone in this desolate wasteland but even more so he hated himself for doing that to you. All you wanted was to help him and he turned his back on you. How could he? You were his best friend, how could he ever let you go like that. For god's sake, your dying wish was to know if he was mad at you. You spent the rest of the however many years you had wondering if he was upset. He looked down at your lifeless body.

"I'm so sorry (Y/N). I'm such an idiot." He choked out

He was distraught. The more he thought about the damage he had done to you the worse he felt. You were his solid ground, the person he trusted most, his entire world changed because of you and now you were gone. This was the punishment for his arrogance, a world without you in it. And a world without you was one he didn't want to live in but he was going to. He was going to do whatever he could so that he could get back to you one day and stop whatever this was from happening. Making sure that you could live a life that didn't end in such tragedy was his ultimate goal now. He was going to survive and he was going to do it for you. Gently he laid your body back down on the rubble and got up. With the materials he could find, he made a small makeshift mausoleum for you. It wasn't the best but you deserved a proper gravesite. Looking at your resting place he said,

"I promise you I'll be back and I'm going to stop this. No matter what it takes I'm coming home for you"

Five picked up the diary you had given him from the ground and took one last look towards where you were laid. 

"Que mon cœur reste avec toi jusqu'à mon retour, ma chérie."

Slowly he walked away and started his journey of survival in an unforgiving world. As he walked around the destructed city remains he saw a newspaper box with a paper still intact. The date on it read April 1st, 2019. He had no clue how this happened but now he knew the date of when it would occur. And so he trudged on and tried to find items that he could use to help him survive. He had found a red wagon and threw anything that he could find that would help him like canned foods and pieces of mismatched clothing that he could use to keep him warm. As he made his way down the deserted streets in the rubble he saw another hand sticking out. Could it be a person? Running towards it he moved the rubble away and what he found wasn't a person. It was a mannequin top wearing a white shirt with black dots. Pulling it out of the rubble he sees the shirt tag sticking out. The tag read _Dolores Clothing Company_. Placing the mannequin in the wagon he brings it along with him.

"You're going to keep me company."

Dragging the wagon full of things behind him he made his way to an empty circular structure, which used to be the local library, and decided to set that up as his camp. He didn't have much and this world was going to be tough but he needed to make it through. And so this deserted wasteland became his new reality day in and day out for years on end. Five would spend his time scouring the city for food and supplies he could use. He dug through piles of ash and rubble to find books, clothes, furniture, anything to make life a bit easier. On top of looking for supplies, he spent a lot of time trying to crunch the numbers so that he could go back in time and stop this mess. The walls of the old library rotunda were covered in markings of mathematical equations that he hoped would help bring him back. As he recovered more items he started to make a collection of the books he had found. He took ones that were readable and not burned to a crisp obviously. He had read a majority of the books but there was one that he had that he avoided for a while.

On the day you passed you had told him to keep the diary you got for your thirteenth birthday, and although some years had passed at this point he still hadn't read it yet. He was worried that it might upset him to read about the life you had to live. He was nervous about it but each day without reading it made him more curious and so he decided to finally unlock it. Even though the day he ran away he was upset he still had put the locket you gave him on when he woke up that morning. Taking it off his neck he opened the locket and saw your smiling face. You kept him going, you were his motivation for putting up with all of this wreckage rather than just wasting away. Placing the open locket in the lock of the diary he pressed down and just like that the book opened. 

Carefully he opened the front cover. The first couple of entries were very short as you detailed the event of some specific days to your diary. After he flipped a couple of pages though there was a change. On November 22nd, 2013 instead of starting the entry with dear diary it started with dear Five. As he went on reading he saw that there was an entry for every single day and each entry was started with dear Five. You wrote in great detail about each and every day whether it was menial or eventful. As he flipped through the entries he swore he could hear your voice saying the words on the page. It was like he was sitting there with you and you were recounting the days to him. 

"Hey," you said

When he looked up from the book he saw you standing there.

"How are you here?" He asked

"I'm not. I'm a figment of your imagination here to ease your loneliness," you reply

"But you seem so real," he says surprised

"Because I am real. To you at least." You explain

"Oh." Five says

You walk over to where he is and lean over the book to see what page he is on.

"Oh, February 14th, 2014. That was the day that this kid at my school named Kenny tried asking me out. I said no because I had never even talked to him before. And anyway he's not my type." You explain

"Good. You deserve someone that you know and trust." Five replies

"Like who?" You question him

"I don't know just someone..." Five replies

Even after six years of being the only person alive and even with you being an imaginary version in his head he was still too shy to express the feelings he held for you. He couldn't bring himself to say it to you even if you were truly just the air in front of him. He looked away from you and back down at the book reading over each entry. He sat there with the book in his lap as you explained every day to him. You'd walk around the little camp he had created for himself talking about the details of certain events and he would respond to them. The two of you had long back and forth conversations just as you always had. He enjoyed having you around him because you made him feel less lonely. And after he started reading the diary you were there consistently. You'd sit in the red wagon and he pulled it around looking for food or books or anything else that could be useful. The thing is you still weren't there, you were just in his head. The real thing that was there was the mannequin, Dolores. When he talked to Dolores he was really talking to you. He might've still addressed the mannequin as Dolores but you were what he saw and the conversations he held were with you. So throughout all the years that he was stranded in the future, he kept Dolores/you with him and talked to you all the time. With each year he grew older so did the image of you he had in his mind. It was almost as if he was growing old with you except you weren't quite there. At this point the image he had of you was and older grayer one, just like himself, but even in his imagination you were still the best thing he had ever seen.

"Remember that old mansion just outside the city limits?" Five asks

"Oh, the one where you tripped and fell into a hole and you couldn't get out for an hour?" You reply

Five laughs at your response. Although in reality, he was just laughing to himself.

"Well the wine cellar was untouched, I picked up a few cases of your favorite Bordeaux." He says chugging down his glass of wine

"Slow your roll there. I swear you drink so much that your blood is probably majority alcohol." You comment to him

"That's an exaggeration, I don't drink too much," Five retorts "You know I work hard all day"

"Oh really, all day?" You question

"I- why would you even say that?" Five asks looking at you confused

To the side of Five, he can hear what sounds like the movement of rubble. He continues to look at the mannequin before him but slowly grabs the gun he keeps with him. When he has the gun in hand he stands up quickly and points the gun in the direction of the sound. Looking through the scope of the gun Five sees a woman with short blonde hair dressed in all black except for her shoes holding a briefcase. The woman smiles and waves at Five and for a second he lowers his gun to make sure if his eyes are working correctly.

"Who the hell are you?" Five shouts

"I'm here to help," the woman replies calmly

The woman walks closer into the campsite that Five had set up. Continuing to hold the gun up he yells,

"Tell me why I shouldn't put a bullet through your head right now!"

The woman puts down her briefcase and takes off her glasses. Sitting down on a piece of nearby concrete she replies,

"Because then you wouldn't hear the offer I'm about to make you. Which would be rather tragic given your current circumstances."

Slowly Five drops his gun down and steps forward listening to what the woman had to say.

"I work for an organization called The Commission. We are tasked with the preservation of the time continuum through manipulation and removals."

Five looks at the woman confused. What did she mean by that?

"I don't understand..." Five comments trying to wrack his brain for what she might be talking about

Taking out a cigarette, the woman before him continues to explain,

"Sometimes people make choices that alter time, free will, don't get me started, when that happens we dispatch one of our agents to eliminate the threat."

In fear of being eliminated Five quickly raises the gun back up and points it at her. He was not going to be killed now after everything he had survived through. He had worked way too hard and come too far for this to be the end.

"No, no, no. You misunderstand me, you're not a target, you're a recruit." She says

Five slowly lowers the gun again as the woman says,

"I've come to offer you a job, Number Five. We've had our eye on you for quite some time and we think you've got a lot of potential. Your survival skills had made you quite a celebrity back at headquarters. That and your ability to jump through time."

Five looks at the woman and then looks at the ground. He was unsure of what to say. The one thought that kept crossing his mind though was the thought of finally leaving this wasteland.

"So you're saying I can actually leave here? I can go back?"

"In exchange for five years of service. You can retire to the time and place of your choosing with a pension plan to boot." The woman replies

"If you can alter time why not just stop all of this from ever happening?" Five inquires gesturing around 

"That's quite impossible I'm afraid. You see all of this, it was supposed to happen."

"That's insane, at the end of everything?"

"Not everything, just the end of something. So do we have an agreement?" The woman asks sticking her hand out

Five looked back at where you were before but all that was there was the mannequin. He takes a look around at the environment around him. This was his way out of this hellscape but also it was a way that he had better access to go back in time and stop this thing from ever happening. Slowly he made his way over to the woman and extended his hand. He took hers to shake it and the deal was sealed. The woman who he soon would learn was called the Handler, took him back to the Commission headquarters, and got him started on the path to being an agent. The commission trained him to be an effective killer and Five rose above all other agents. He was the number one but he was just buying himself time. As he worked for the Commission he also worked on his plan to change the timeline. He continued to do the calculations to make sure that he could return and stop what the Handler said was inevitable. And so on his mission to assassinate President Kennedy, he decided it was time for a change of things. Putting down his gun he pulled out the book that he had written his calculations in. Taking a deep breath he pulled out the locket you had given him so many years ago and said, 

"It's time to go home." 


	14. Found In The Present

At 7:02 pm on March 21st, 2019, Sir Reginald Hargreeves died. The news of his passing spread like wildfire as he was a prominent public figure and very soon that news was broken to his five remaining children. Luther received the news from where he was stationed on a moon, Diego saw the news on a TV inside a family's home after he stopped an invasion attempt, Allison heard it from a paparazzi cameraman at the red carpet premiere of Love On Loan 3, Klaus saw it on a mini TV in the back of an ambulance after being revived from a drug overdose and Vanya learned about it while passing an electronics store after her violin practice. When the day of the funeral was announced to be on March 24th the children came to realize that they would all have to see each other again. This would be the first time in about a decade that the living five children would be back together under the same roof. And for the first time in 17 years, you would see all the remaining Hargreeves children again. Out of the siblings, Diego was the first to arrive. Entering the house he saw you and mom sitting in the parlor.

"Hey mom, hey princess." He says entering the room

"I didn't think you'd be back inside this place so soon." You say to him

"Neither did I, but here we are." He replies "You doing okay mom?"

Grace didn't reply. She had a distant look in her eye ever since Reginald's passing. Looking to Diego you shake your head no since Grace didn't respond. Diego turns his attention to you and nods his head in the direction of the foyer. You get up from where you were sitting next to Grace and make your way out of the parlor. When the two of you were alone Diego looked at you and said,

"The rest of them are going to be here soon and this is already a chaotic time so if you could do me a favor and stay out of sight for the day please."

You didn't want to stay away though, you wanted to see everyone after all this time. Looking at Diego you gave him the saddest possible face you could pull.

"Not gonna work this time. I'm serious, stay out of sight." Diego replies firmly

"Fine. I'll go to my room." You relent

Heading up the stairs you go to your room, close the door, and sit on your bed. You can hear the sounds of people moving around the house and talking through your door. You wanted to be out there with them, they might've been older but they were your friends. Sitting in your room and being away from them just ended up making you think about the time where you were all together. The times where Five was still around. Getting off your bed you go over to your desk. You look at some of the items that adorned it, there was your diary, the teddy bear Five got you, his umbrella academy mask, and the music box he gave you on your birthday. You lift the music box up and turn the key to wind it up. When you open it you hear the music play as the tiny figure of two people dancing spins around. Mesmerized you watch it intently. As you watch it you swear that the two figures changed from what they were into you and Five. You remember dancing with him and having him close and you wondered if you would get to hold him close again soon. You continued to be in your thoughts until you could hear a loud conversation coming from downstairs. You were curious as to what was going on and wanted to leave your room but you promised Diego that you would stay out of sight. And then it hit you, you only promised him to stay out of sight of the other. A mischievous smile appeared on your face as you made your molecules invisible and headed out of your room. Making your way around the house you could hear the conversation that was going on from down the hall. One of them was making a fuss over the circumstances of Mr. Hargreeves' death. As you approached you decided to stand by one of the railings overlooking the parlor. Down below you could see the five Hargreeves siblings interacting with each other.

"Then there's the issue of the missing monocle." One of them says

You presume it's Luther based on the fact that he was leading the conversation.

"Who gives a shit about a stupid monocle," Diego replies

Those two never did get along. Always butting heads and arguing and even now they continue to do it.

"Exactly, it's worthless. So whoever took it I think it was personal. Someone close to him. Someone with a grudge." Luther elaborates

"Where are you going with this?" The one who is obviously Klaus asks

"Oh, isn't it obvious Klaus?" Diego says approaching Luther

You had seen where Luther was going with this from a mile away and added,

"He thinks that one of you killed him."

The siblings look around confused at where the voice came from. Diego, unable to keep quiet yells,

"I thought I told you to stay in your room!"

The rest of the siblings look at him confused. What could he be yelling at? You teleport yourself down to the parlor still invisible to everyone. 

"You told me to stay out of sight." You say approaching Diego "And I've done just that."

You give him a little shove that no one else can see before you go and sit on one of the couches facing the opposite of everyone else.

"Guys, I didn't think I did that many pills but like I'm starting to hear things," Klaus says concerned

"What is going on?" Vanya asks

"Me." You say revealing yourself 

The four other siblings look at you. Expressions of shock, confusion, and awe were on their faces. Klaus gets up from off the couch and slowly starts to approach you.

"Oh my god, (Y/N) it's been so long." He says "Guys, (Y/N)'s here. I can see her."

"Klaus I'm not dead." You retort walking around him and closer to the rest of the group

"You're so...young." Allison comments

"Jeez, that's the first thing everyone notices. No hi (Y/N), how's it going (Y/N), no it's just you're so young. At least your dad told me to stop yelling at the painting of Five over there when he first saw me." You reply "but like, yeah I'm young. I'm eighteen."

"I don't understand," Luther says

"Oh thank god we're on the same page because neither do I," Klaus exclaims

"Well, when your friend brings you eleven years in the future when you're thirteen you end up looking pretty young." You answer

"Eleven years? You've been back since 2013?" Vanya asks

"Yes, November 22nd, 2013 is when I came back. It was pretty wild still being a child and coming back to find out that my parents were gone, all my friends grew up and left, it was eleven years later than I remembered, my best friend was missing, and the life I knew was gone." You answer

"That's awful, but why are you here?" Klaus asks

"Because she's lived here for the past five years," Diego says

"How do you know that?" Allison questions

"Because I've been helping to take care of her since she came back. I've been there for everything. Piano recitals, boxing matches, sweet sixteen, college visits, learning to drive, and just a week ago I was here to take pictures before she went to prom." Diego explains

"Wait, you knew about her? And you didn't tell any of us?" Luther accusingly asks

"Why would I tell you guys? You were on the moon, Allison has a family and career, Ben is dead, Five is missing, Klaus is a drug addict, and there's no way I'd tell Vanya after what she did. I didn't want the conflict and chaos that all of you bring to ruin what small amount of normalcy she had." Diego retorts

"You didn't want us to ruin it for her? Or you didn't want us to ruin it for you?" Luther yells

"Hey! I'm not the one you should be getting mad at. According to you, you were talking to dad on a regular basis. She lived in his house, trained with him, ate with him, existed in the same space as him for five years and he didn't say anything to you. Who's really to blame for you not knowing?" Diego yells back

Luther angrily takes a step towards Diego and Diego firmly stands his ground. Feeling the tension grow you try to diffuse the situation and step in between the two. You then comment,

"Well this has been fun but I'm heading out because Pogo asked me to pick up flowers for him. Anyway, have a fun time listening to Luther's conspiracy theory on how one of you killed your dad." You say before heading out of the house and down the street to the florist

"It's not a conspiracy theory!" He calls out "It has merit!"

The rest of his siblings look at him in shock at what he said.

"Great job Luther, way to lead." Diego remarks

"You're crazy man. you're crazy." Klaus responds as he grabs his drink and starts to walk away

"I'm not finished," Luther replies

"Okay well sorry, I'm just gonna go murder mom I'll be right back," Klaus comments sarcastically

The rest of the siblings walk out of the parlor without a word. Luther tries to stop them but it doesn't work. Each sibling heads to different parts of the house to be alone. Luther and Allison end up in their rooms, Klaus was in the kitchen with their father's ashes, Vanya was sitting on the foyer steps and Diego isolated himself in the parlor. Each one of them in their own space was going through the same exact feelings of anger or grief. This family was never one that got along easily. While Luther is in his room he decides to grab a record to play. Putting on the record player the music of I Think We're Alone Now by Tiffany starts to echo throughout the house. The five Hargreeves children slowly all start to dance in the spaces they occupied. It was a brief reprieve of happiness from the typical chaos of their interconnected lives but that was all interrupted when a giant burst of light appears outside. The lights in the house start to flicker as metallic objects start to fly around and get stuck on walls. The siblings quickly make their way out to the courtyard and notice the giant ball of blue energy. Carefully they keep a safe distance and watch it to see what it might do. After a few seconds, they start to see a figure in the blue light above them. With a giant flash, a figure falls down from the sky where the blue used to be to the ground. Slowly the five of them approach the person who dropped from the sky. The figure slowly gets up from the ground and they look on in confusion.

"Does anyone else see a slightly older version of little number Five or is that just me?" Klaus asks

Five takes a look down at himself and says,

"Shit."

At the same time that this was happening you were making your way to the florist to pick up the flowers that Pogo had ordered. As you walked to the shop you could feel that something was wrong. As your sensitivity to molecular disturbances improved it also led to a drawback. Giant disturbances caused you physical pain because the way you felt disturbances was by your body absorbing and redistributing the molecules around you. As you continued to walk to the shop the physical pain grew so much that you had to stop and bend over. It felt like your insides were being torn apart bit by bit and you could not stop it. You somehow managed to turn around in the direction where you felt it coming from. The house was back that way. The pain of the disturbance went on for a few more seconds but then abruptly it stopped. Once you had caught your breath you stood back up and decided to speed walk to the florist so you could get back home as quickly as possible.

Back at the house, the five Hargreeves siblings sat around the kitchen table as they watched the newly returned Five make a sandwich. 

"What is the date? The exact date." Five questions getting bread to make the sandwich

"The 24th." Vanya states

"Of?" Five asks

"March," Vanya replies

"Good." Five comments

"So are we gonna talk about what just happened?" Luther asks

Five puts two slices of bread down on a board and focuses on his desired food item.

"It's been 17 years." Luther states standing up

"It's been a lot longer than that." Five replies spacial jumping behind Luther to get marshmallows

"I didn't miss that." Luther comments

While Five looks around for the marshmallows, Diego asks,

"So where'd you go?"

"The future." Five says before jumping back to the table "It's shit by the way."

"Called it!" Klaus exclaims

Five goes over to the fridge to get peanut butter. As he does he adds,

"I should've listened to the old man. You know jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice."

Five unscrews the lid of the peanut butter jar before looking up from it and at his siblings before him. He comments to Klaus,

"Nice dress."

"Oh, Danke," Klaus responds playing with some of the loose straps

"Wait how did you get back?" Vanya questions

"In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time." Five states starting to assemble his meal

"That makes no sense," Diego says confused

"Well, it would if you were smarter." Five remarks

Diego angrily stands up and stares down Five but Luther puts up an arm to hold him back.

"How long were you there?" Luther asks

"45 years." Five states bluntly "Give or take."

Luther and Diego both sit back down. All the siblings stare at their brother with wide eyes in shock at his statement.

"So what are you saying? You're 58?" Luther asks

"No. My consciousness is 58 apparently my body is 18 again." Five retorts

Five finishes making his sandwich and walks off to the side of the table facing away from his siblings.

"How does that even work?" Vanya inquires

"Dolores kept saying the equations were off. Bet she's laughing now." Five replies walking back over to the table

"Dolores?" Vanya asks

Five picks up a newspaper detailing the death of his father and takes a look at it before commenting,

"Guessed I missed the funeral."

"How did you know about that?" Luther asks

"What part of the future do you not understand." Five remarks to him "Heart failure, huh?"

"Yeah," Diego says

"No," Luther adds

"Hmm. Nice to see nothing's changed." Five comments

Five was about to walk out of the kitchen and away from his siblings when he heard the courtyard door that leads to the kitchen open and shut. A voice then calls from behind him,

"Hey guys, I got the flowers."

Five froze in place and his heart stopped. He recognized that voice. It was the voice that kept him going every day in that apocalyptic world. It was your voice. Five didn't know what to do. He wanted to see if you were there and not in his mind but he knew that if he turned around whatever was behind him was real. He was worried that if he turned around that he would find nothing there and that would end up being his reality. Just another one where you didn't exist with him. His siblings looked at him before directing their eyes behind him to you.

"Guys, what's going on?" You ask confused

Five knew that he had to look. Taking a deep breath Five looked down at the ground, closed his eyes, and slowly started to turn around. When he had finished he lifted his head and opened his eyes. And there you were standing right in front of him. The look in his eyes softened as he took in the sight. You were full of life, you were alive. He locked eyes with you and you didn't realize it but you had dropped the vase of flowers you were holding. They fell to the floor with a loud crash but you didn't even hear it. The world faded away as you looked at the boy before you. You knew those bright blue eyes anywhere. Your heart started to race as you took a step forward. Quietly you said,

"Five?"

You were worried that if you said it too loud he would vanish. He gave you a soft smile and you made your way over to where he was standing. When you got close enough to him you slowly extended your hand towards his face. Your fingers barely brushed his cheek but you pulled your hand back in shock at the feeling of his warm skin. Tears started to well in your eyes as you came to the realization that he was real and he was here. Gently he cupped your face in his hands and looked at it taking in every detail. You were so beautiful. You looked at him full of emotion and softly asked,

"Are you still mad at me?"

"No, never. I could never stay mad at you," he said breathlessly "I missed you so much"

You missed him too. You missed him more than anything and no matter how long of a time it had been he was constantly on your mind. After all these years you wanted him back and you just wanted to know that he wasn't mad at you. And now here he was in front of you telling you he wasn't. You can see tears form in his eyes and you gently wipe them away. Wrapping your arms around his neck, he drops his arms and wraps them around your waist pulling you close. He was never going to let you go again. You rest your forehead against his and whisper,

"You're a fucking idiot."

"I know and I'm sorry." He quietly replies

You could hear the sincerity in his voice. You had longed for this moment and yet now that it was happening you didn't know what to do. At that moment the rest of the world was gone and nothing mattered but the two of you being together again. Five relished this moment, everything he had been through was worth it because it led to him being right here with you now. And although consciously he was 58, and physically he was 18, at that moment as he held you in his arms once again he felt like his 13-year-old self, happy and peaceful. Finally, he had returned home. As the two of you stood there together the loud sound of someone clearing their throat brought you two back to reality. You both look where the sound came from and see the rest of the Hargreeves siblings staring at the two of you. You and Five abruptly part from the embrace you shared a blush rising to both of your faces. You looked back towards where you entered.

"Oh no, the flowers." You comment

You go over and pick the flowers up off the ground avoiding the broken glass. Holding the flowers in one hand you walk towards the door that leads to the rest of the house.

"I'll go get mom to help with the glass" you add

As you're about to leave you look back towards the group.

"And thanks for the sandwich." You say holding up the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich

Five looks down at the board where he was making the sandwich and then back up at you. You smirk at him and take a bite out of the sandwich before exiting. Five's eyes follow you until you can't be seen anymore. A smile on his face as he turns back to his siblings.

"I see that 45 years hasn't dulled your feelings." Luther remarks

"Oh, so yours have?" Five retorts sarcastically

Luther opens his mouth to say something but then closes it again and looks away.

"Oh c'mon guys, our little Five is in love just like he was all those years ago! Two lovers torn apart now reunited, it's a timeless story!"

"Watch yourself, Klaus. I'm not having any of that _''lovers''_ crap" Diego states playing with one of his knives before turning to look at Five "If you pull that time jump shit again on her, I will kill you without hesitation."

Five looked shocked at Diego and wondered what the hell happened while he was gone. Five decided that he was done speaking to them at this point and started to walk out of the kitchen and into the main house.

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Allison asks

"What else is there to say?" Five replies before leaving them completely

Five walks towards the main part of the house and as he does so he notices the bagginess of his suit. He knew that he was going to need something else to wear. Heading upstairs he went to his room. It was practically untouched except for the bed which wasn't made. He remembered reading in (Y/N's) diary that sometimes she would sleep in the bed because it comforted her but not often. He looked in his closet but none of his clothes would fit him now. All the uniforms that he had were fit for his 13-year-old self. Leaving his room he moved down the hall and went into Klaus' room. This one looked like it had been empty for years. Looking in the closet he found untouched uniforms that were more appropriate in size for his age. Five unhappily changed into the academy uniform and stepped out of Klaus' old room. As he walked down the hall some more he passed your room and saw you in there sitting on your bed. He backtracked and stood in the doorway leaning on the door frame. With his hands in the pockets of his uniform shorts, he asked,

"May I come in?"

You were still looking away from him when you replied,

"Yeah sure,"

When you turned your attention to him though you burst out laughing. Approaching him you said,

"Oh my god,"

"Listen it's not my first choice of attire but there's really not much to work with here." He replies with a smile on his face

"No, no don't say that. You're wearing the height of fashion. Give me a spin." You say sarcastically

Five takes his hands out of his pockets and holds on to the sides of his jacket as he slowly spins around.

"Oh wow, the sweater vest is just magnifique. Truly the pièce de résistance of this ensemble." You continue with your sarcasm

"I know right, you can see how much my father cared for his children through this outfit." Five jokes back

The two of you smile and laugh as Five walks around your room a bit. Looking around he comments,

"You know I was wondering when I was going to see how you changed this room after you moved in." 

"Who told you about me moving in?" You ask curiously

"You did. Well I mean I read it in your diary in the future." He says still taking in the room

"Oh? Did I give it to you?" You ask

Five looks at you as he remembers the horrible circumstances under which he had received the book.

_"Five."_

_"Yes."_

_"The book." You say looking towards your hand caught under some rubble_

_"Here." He says handing it to you after removing the rubble_

_"Keep it." You reply weakly pushing it back towards him_

"Five?" you call out 

Five snaps back to reality and focuses on you.

"Right, sorry. You did give me the book but you weren't there to read it with me." He responds

"So how did you open it?" You ask him

Five then reaches under his uniform shirt and pulls out the locket you had given him all those years ago. You couldn't believe he still had it. You thought since he was mad at you he might've gotten rid of it.

"I used the locket you gave me to open it. I wore it every day and I still do. I had to keep you close to me somehow." He responds

You looked at him with awe in your eyes and he reciprocates with a smile. Turning around he looks at the items on your desk. Five spots the mask sitting there and says jokingly,

"Oh no, whose mask is that? Did my dad try to recruit you to join the academy?"

"No, no." you reply to him picking up the mask from your desk "It's your mask actually."

You looked down at the mask that you held between your hands and then back up and your best friend. Walking over to him you gently place the mask on his face. 

"Oh god, I probably look 12 again with this on." Five groans

"You do but I always did think you looked cute with it on," you say without thinking

When you realize what you had said you quickly turned around so Five couldn't see the embarrassed blush on your face. How could you admit that so freely? Five was grateful that you turned around because he too had a blush on his face. He never knew that you thought he was cute with his mask. It made him feel good that you said that. Five takes the mask off of his eyes and places it down on your desk. Looking towards you he says,

"Hey (Y/N)?"

"Yeah?" you respond

"I'm dying for a cup of coffee right now, so I was thinking that maybe we could go to that shitty donut place like old times. Want to go?"

"You know what Five, I'd love to."

After the craziness of this whole day all you wanted was something to feel normal. And there was nothing else in this world that felt more normal than going to Griddy's, sitting in your booth, and talking about anything and everything with your best friend. The two of you walked together out of your room, down the stairs, and out of the house. As you two left, the rest of the siblings watched as you two walked side by side with the widest of smiles on your faces. Each one of them knew that no matter how much time had passed for either of you, you were still as inseparable as you used to be, but this time it was so much more. 


	15. Donuts, Doctor's Visits, and A Mannequin Named Dolores

After you and Five leave the house he directs you to Mr. Hargreeves' old car. Five runs ahead a little bit and opens the passenger side door. You approach the car and he extends his hand out to grab yours and help you get in. Once you are fully in the passenger seat Five closes the door and walks over to the driver's side. Sliding into his seat he starts the car and drives over to Griddy's. When the two of you arrived and the car is parked you start to get out but Five says,

"Wait I'll get the door for you."

You stop what you were doing and wait for him to come around the car to your side. When he opens the door he extends his hand once more to help you and then closes the door once you exited. As the two of you walk to enter the donut shop you say,

"Wow, you are quite the gentleman."

"No I'm just being nice so you'll pay for the food." Five jokes

"Oh well thanks" You reply with a laugh

Five opens the door for you and you enter with him not too far behind. 

"You're really working for me to pay aren't you?"

"Yes."

The two of you sit at the counter and Five rings the tiny bell on it. As he does that an older gentleman opens the door to the shop and takes a seat in the counter chair left of Five. The place is silent but then a waitress walks out from the back and over to where the three of you sat. Reaching for a pen from her shirt picket and her order pad from her waistband she looks at the man says,

"Sorry, the sink was clogged. Now, what'll it be?"

"Uh, give me a chocolate eclair." The man responds

"Can I get the kids some glasses of milk or something?" The server asks

The man looks at her confused and Five answers,

"The kid wants coffee. Black."

"Jelly donut. Raspberry." You add

The waitress looks at the two of you shocked and looks over to the man. She then says,

"uh, cute kids."

The man looks back at her confused and then looks at you and Five again. The two of you awkwardly smile at her before she goes over to get the items you requested. When she does Five starts to talk to the man.

"I don't remember this place being such a shithole. When I was a kid I used to sneak out and come here all the time with my best friend and just sit and talk for hours." Five says grabbing your hand under the counter "Simpler times."

"I- I suppose" The man replies hesitantly

The waitress then brings over the stuff for each of you. Five takes his hand away to grab his coffee and you start munching on your donut. The older man says that he will cover the payment for the two of you and hands the waitress the money. The waitress takes the money before going into the back of the shop. Five notices that the man is a tow truck driver and asks him for an address. You found it odd but he must've had a reason for asking. When the man finishes his eclair he leaves the shop and Five turns his attention to you.

"Looks like you were a gentleman for no reason since I don't have to pay," you comment sarcastically

"Shit, all that hard work for nothing." He says with a smirk

"Y'know, I didn't notice it earlier but you slicked your hair to the side like you used to. It looks nice." You say

"Oh, thank you." He replies reaching up to touch his hair 

The two of you sit there in a nice silence. Five drinks his coffee and you have your donut, almost like old times. You could hear the door open from behind you. Five looked into the bell on the counter and saw the reflection of men with guns. Still sitting forward he said,

"Go invisible, get behind the counter, get down, and stay quiet. Now."

You had no clue what was going on but you did as he told. Turning invisible you quickly phased yourself behind the counter and crouched down. You heard the sound of many people walking in. There was silence before you heard Five say,

"That was fast. I thought I'd have more time before they found me."

Curious you peek your invisible head over the counter. Standing there are a bunch of men with guns pointed at Five. You stay quiet but watch their interaction.

"Okay, let's all be professional about this, yeah? On your feet and come with us and we'll talk." The one closest to Five says

"I've got nothing to say." Five replies

"It doesn't have to go this way. You think I wanna shoot a kid? Go home with that on my conscience?" The man with the gun asks

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Five states turning his head to look at the man "You won't be going home."

Slowly Five grabs the knife off the counter and spacial jumps behind the man who was talking to him stabbing him in the neck. The man then accidentally fires off rounds from his gun into one of his accomplices across the shop which in turn leads the shot man to accidentally fire off rounds as he falls down. Five jumps again so he is laying on his side across the shop counter.

"Hey, assholes." He calls out

He was so confident and cocky when he fought. You loved to see it. The men turn their guns and start to shoot at the area where he was but he jumps once more and is out of the way of the bullets. You can see him behind the line of gunmen outside the door. He knocks on it and the man directly in front of the door turns around and starts shooting but Five is gone at that point. You weren't just going to let Five fight alone so grabbing a steak knife you throw it at one of the men and hit him in his neck. Five then appears, breaks a mop, and stabs the broken wood handle into the side of that man. Five jumps again and wraps his tie around another guy pulling it back and down so hard that his neck breaks. He then takes a knife off of a table and stabs another gunman in the crotch before using the same knife to stab him in the eye. You phase through the counter and reveal yourself. With the same confidence Five had earlier, you say,

"Hey, assholes. Over here."

Two guys on opposite sides of the store stand up and start running towards you with their guns up. Five then runs in between them, grabs you, and spacial jumps as the two of them shoot each other. When the store goes quiet, Five jumps back bringing you two to the center of the store. He then grabs his uniform tie off of the man he killed with it and puts it back on, tightens it, and tucks it back into his sweater vest. Seeing one of the men on the ground still moving you go over to him and snap his neck. When you stand back up you see Five using a knife to cut his arm open. Digging in his forearm he pulls out some small device of sorts before wrapping his arm where he had cut. He walks out of the destroyed store and you follow him. Dropping the device on the ground he starts walking towards the car and grabs the driver's side door.

"Hell no. You are not driving with a fucked up arm." You state firmly holding your hand out "Give me the keys and get in the passenger side."

He lets out a huff and reluctantly grabs the keys from his pocket and hands them to you.

"Thank you," you say

You two get in the car and as you start driving back home you yell,

"What in the ever-loving fuck was that Five?"

"Just a bunch of gunmen. The crime rate must've gone up over the years since the academy disbanded." Five explains "Also you shouldn't have gotten in the way, you could've gotten hurt."

"First of all those bullets would've gone right through me and you know that!" You continue to yell "Second of all, cut the shit and tell me the truth."

"Fine, they're people who are trying to keep the future as it is." Five explains

"WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF FUTURE DID YOU COME FROM?" You yell louder

"I'll tell you when we get back to the house." He says

For the rest of the ride, the two of you sit in silence. Five knew that you were upset at what had happened but he knew that if they figured out you were important to him they would've killed you on the spot or taken and tortured you so he would come back to the Commission. He couldn't let you get hurt, he refused to let that happen. When you got back to the house you both walked upstairs and you pointed him to his room. Five walked in and sat on the bed as you went to the bathroom to grab a first aid kit. When you went back to his room you took his jacket from him so that you could take a look at his arm. Undoing the makeshift bandage he had made you place a cotton pad with rubbing alcohol and where he cut himself. After a while when the bleeding had slowed you wrapped gauze around his arm to keep the cut from getting infected. Once you finished you looked up towards him.

"(Y/N), when I went to the future do you know what I found?"

"What?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. From what I could tell I was the last person around. I had to survive on scraps, whatever I could find. I don't know what happened to cause it but I do know when it happens."

"When?"

"Eight days from now."

Your jaw dropped. Eight days from now everything would just cease to exist? Five lived through that and those guys from earlier were trying to protect that? They wanted to protect the end of civilization? Today was just filled with surprise after surprise and with each new one, it was getting harder to process. Unknowing of what to do you abruptly stand up and Five looks at you concerned. He grabs your hand and asks,

"Are you okay?"

"Uh yes. Well no. Kind of. I'm not sure. I- this is a lot. I need to rest." You stutter out

Taking your hand from him you quickly exit the room and head down the hall to your room. Closing your door you get in bed, hold your teddy bear, and stare at the ceiling. Life stopped being normal the day you met Five, but holy hell this was a new level. Back in Five's room, he sits on the bed with his head in his hands.

"Dumbass." He says aloud to himself "That was way too much at once."

Five laid back in his bed for a while. He had eight days to stop the apocalypse, eight days to save the world, and most importantly eight days to make sure you could have a future. He didn't want to mess things up with you but he was losing time by staying there. Getting up out of his bed he quietly made his way out of the room. He passed your door to get to the stairs but he backtracked. He wanted to tell you he was heading out so you wouldn't worry. Spacial jumping into your room he saw that you were sound asleep with the teddy bear he gave you in your arms. You looked so peaceful when you slept and he couldn't help but smile. Gently he walked over to you, crouched down by the side of your bed, and brushed some hairs that had fallen in your face back.

"I don't know if you can hear me but I'm going to head out for a bit so I can stop this mess from happening, okay? I'll be back for you soon."

He looked at you for a little longer before standing up and spacial jumping away. He needed to stop the apocalypse and the sooner the better. You slept through for the rest of the night and when you got up you decided you wanted to apologize to Five for leaving so abruptly last night. You left your room and walked over to his but when you got there you found nothing. You transported yourself to different parts of the house but couldn't find him. Jumping back to his room you check one more time before walking downstairs. From the parlor, you can hear some voices. When you walk in you see Allison all ready for the day and Klaus only in his underwear.

"Have you guys seen Five? I woke up and I can't find him." You ask the two of them 

"No, I haven't seen him today," Allison replies

"I saw him in my dream last night. We were in the Willy Wonka factory and he fell down the bad egg shoot" Klaus adds

"And what about this morning?" You ask

"Oh no. I just woke up." He responds

You flop down on a couch facing the two of them. 

"Ugh, he comes back, and yet I don't even know where he is." You complain "What am I supposed to do with a boy like that?"

"Love him, like you always have." Allison comments

"Shut up!" You say looking away

"What you think that after all these years I'd forget you telling me how you have a major crush on my brother?" She remarks "I told you I'd take it to the grave with me."

"Oh my god. Wait. You like Five?!" Klaus questions excitedly

"What? You couldn't tell?" Allison questions

"I don't pay attention very well if you haven't realized, and I mean like, I never knew that _**she**_ liked him..." Klaus responds "So you have a crush on Five?"

"Yes..." you whisper before stating loudly "You better not tell him."

Klaus puts one hand on his heart and puts the other up with fingers crossed.

"I won't tell a soul." He says stealing a side glance at his ghost brother Ben. He was definitely going to talk to Ben about it.

"You know I never quite understood how you liked him. He's kind of a jerk." Allison says

"No, he's caring and sweet when he wants to be." You reply with a blush on your face

"I don't get it but if he makes you happy that's all that matters." Allison states

"And from what I can tell you seem to make him happy too. I swear he only smiles around you." Klaus says

You smiled at their words. Five truly did make you happy and you liked knowing that he felt the same about you. I mean you already knew that you made him happy but you liked hearing it from other people because it made it more real.

"Alright, well I'm going to go find Luther," Allison states

"Ooooooh, have fun." You say in a teasing tone

"Shut up." She says as she walks out of the parlor

You turn your attention to Klaus and ask him,

"How about we go get breakfast and start your day off right with some orange juice?"

You couldn't hear it but Ben exclaimed,

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!"

Klaus shoots Ben a glare as you all walk out of the parlor together and down to the kitchen to start off your days. Meanwhile, Five was on the hunt to find the owner of the mysterious glass eye he had found in the future. His starting place was at Meritech Prosthetics where the eye was made. Five stands in the lobby as a doctor comes out and asks him,

"Uh, can I help you?"

Five turns around and looks at the man. Walking over he holds up the eye and says,

"I need to know who this belongs to."

"Where did you get that?"

"What do you care?" Five asks before adding "I found it while I was walking in the park. It must've just popped out and I want to return it to the rightful owner."

"Well, patient records are strictly confidential but if you give me the eye I can get it back to its owner."

"Yeah, you're not touching this eye." Five states

"Now listen here young man-" The doctor says but is cut off

Five grabs the doctor by his collar and pulls him in close to him.

"NO, you listen to me, asshole. I've come a long way for this, through some shit your pea brain couldn't even comprehend, so just give me the information I need and I'll be on my merry way. And if you call me ''young man'' one more time I will put your head through that wall." Five explains

"Call security." The doctor says to the secretary nearby

Understanding that he wasn't going to get the information he wanted right now Five decided to leave on his own. Letting go of the doctor's collar he walks toward the elevators, leaves the building, and makes his way back home. When he returns he sees Klaus wandering around the parlor talking to the air,

"She has a crush on him isn't that crazy?" Klaus says

"Not really Klaus. All of us saw it a long time ago. It's actually really concerning that you didn't." Ben replies to him matter-of-factly

"Alright, no need to be so rude about it," Klaus replies

"I'm not?" Ben says

"Klaus." Five says "You wanna make twenty bucks?"

"Don't do it," Ben says to Klaus

Klaus shoots him a look and quickly snaps around saying to Five,

"Absolutely."

"Go put on your best clothes and meet me in my room."

Five makes his way up to his room while Klaus rushes to his to find the best clothes he has available. When Klaus finished he comes into Five's room and Five explains,

"Listen I need you to come with me to this prosthetics place and pretend to be my dad. Easy enough?"

"Yeah, I can do that, I'm great at pretending to be someone I'm not. I did it around dad for years." Klaus replies

Five then hears footsteps coming up the stairs and pushes Klaus towards his closet.

"Get in and stay quiet." Five says closing the doors on him. 

Five then walks over to his window to look natural for whoever was coming. As he looks out his window he sees the window of your old room. The curtains were open but the room was completely dark. He remembered when he used to pop over to your room to watch TV way too loud so your parents couldn't hear him and you talking. He missed the times where life was just normal for you two, it was a life he wanted to return to, but that time was gone and the reality was if he didn't stop this apocalypse there would be no returning to a life with you. As he continues to look out the window he hears a voice from behind him say,

"There you are, I was wondering where you went." 

"Oh, hey." Five says walking over to you "Sorry, I left without saying anything, I wanted to tell you I was heading out but you were asleep and I wasn't going to wake you." 

"No, no. You don't need to apologize. I was worried you left because you were upset at my reaction yesterday. I'm really sorry, I wasn't being very supportive. It was just so much with you coming back, and then the stuff at the donut shop and then what you said and-" You start to ramble on but are cut off by Five

He grabs your shoulders and looks you directly in the eyes before saying calmly,

"Hey, It's okay. It was a lot to put on you in such a short time frame."

"Yeah but I could've at least tried to understand. Sure it was a lot but I've been through a lot of other crazy shit because of this family. Instead of dealing with it...I just ran away. You don't leave when the people you care about need you, so I'm sorry." You say sincerely

Five pulls you into a hug and says,

"I told you already I could never be mad at you. You mean too much to me to be upset at."

You pull back from the hug and look at your best friend. Hopefully, now that he was back you two could hang out and not get shot at.

"Do you want to watch some movies now? I know there's everything still going on that you told me about but it might be good to take a small break to help clear your mind. There's been a lot of good movies that have come out since you've been gone." You suggest with a smile

"I'd love to," Five replies before realizing that he can't "but I can't right now. I need to go out again."

Your smile drops. Seeing your frown Five adds,

"When I get back we can do something together."

"Like what?" You question with a smile returning

"We'll do whatever is going to keep that smile on your face."

"Okay! I'll think of something really fun!" You say walking out of the room "I'm going to go grab some food to eat but I can't wait to see you later." 

You didn't like how he had to leave but at least you knew he would come back home to you. Five watches as you walk out of the room and down the hall disappointed that he can't just spend time with you. He knows that you want to be around him, and all he wanted to do was to spend as much time as possible close to you, but he knew he couldn't because had to stop the apocalypse first. When your footsteps trail off Klaus busts out of Five's closet and comments,

"How touching. All of that stuff about friendship, and caring, making her happy. You should just tell her you love her already."

Five looks towards Klaus and snaps,

"Will you keep quiet? She'll hear you."

"Oh, c'mon Five. You've been in love with her since we were kids and distance makes the heart grow fonder. I mean you might as well just spit it out already." Klaus whimsically replies

"I can't." Five remarks

"Not with that attitude you can't," Klaus responds

Five grabs the collar of Klaus' shirt and pulls him close. Firmly he states,

"Klaus, I don't know if you'll be able to get this through that drugged-up head but I cannot do that. Right now there is too much risk associated with me saying those three words to her. I don't want anything to happen that could ruin everything."

Five then pushes Klaus away and adds,

"Anyway, I thought I told you to put on something professional."

"This is the nicest outfit I have," Klaus replies

Five shakes his head in annoyance before saying,

"Fine, we'll go raid the old man's closet."

The two of them walk out of Five's room to get Klaus a more appropriate looking outfit. When Klaus gets into some better attire, he and Five leave the house and head to Meritech to talk to the doctor from earlier. The conversation was slow as the doctor from before refused to give out information but that soon changed when Klaus accused him of hitting "his son" Five. Punching Five in the face he gave him a swollen lip and then quickly after he grabbed a snow globe off the doctor's desk and smashed it on his head. The doctor was obviously shocked at the actions but even more shocked at Klaus' following statements detailing how when security entered they would say that he inflicted their wounds on them and he would do a great job as a prison bitch. With that, the doctor led Five and Klaus to the records department to look into the eye but it was useless because the eye wasn't even manufactured yet let alone given to a person. With the only lead of who was going to cause the apocalypse out the window, Five marched angrily outside with Klaus in tow.

"Well, this is not good." Five states visibly upset

"I was pretty good, though, right?" Klaus says

"Klaus, it doesn't matter." Five retorts annoyed

"What's the big deal with this eye, anyway?" Klaus asks

"There is someone out there who's going to lose an eye in the next seven days. They're gonna bring about the end of life on this Earth as we know it. " Five states angrily

"Yeah, so...can I get that 20 bucks, like, now, or what?" 

"Your 20 bucks?" Five questions back shocked

"Yeah, my 20 bucks." 

"The apocalypse is coming, and all you can think about is getting high?" Five asks enraged

"Well, I'm also quite hungry. Tummy's a-rumblin'." Klaus replies with a smile

"You're useless!" Five exclaims walking away from him

Five sits down on the steps of Meritech trying to think of what to do now. Klaus takes a seat next to him.

"Oh, come on. You need to lighten up, old man. Hey, you know, I've just now realized why you're so uptight. You must be horny as hell! All those years by yourself. It's gotta screw with your head, being alone." Klaus comments before adding "Even more reason for you to tell Y/N how you feel. I mean the overwhelming tension between you two is just so palpable. You might as well say something to her and uh get on with _it_."

"Listen I told you I can't and I wasn't alone." Five replies quietly

"Oh?" Klaus says intrigued

"Her name was Dolores. We were together for over 30 years...Well, the mannequin's name was Dolores, but what I saw there was (Y/N)." Five explains

"But (Y/N) wasn't there..." Klaus says confused

"She wasn't, the mannequin was there physically but what I visualized and saw was (Y/N) and so for those years that I was stuck I talked to and grew old with an imaginary version of (Y/N). I know it sounds crazy but she kept me going." Five continues

"Oh shit. If what you saw was (Y/N) there, did you like-" Klaus says making a hand jerking gesture but was cut off by Five saying

"I'm leaving."

With that, Five spacial jumped from next to Klaus and into a taxi heading to the one "person" he needed most. Five took the taxi to the store where he knew she would be, Gimbel Brothers Department Store. By the time he had arrived the store was closed and the lights were off. Spacial jumping through the doors he made his way to the women's section. Picking up a flashlight as he passed a display he turned it on and carefully walked through the store shining the light and all the different displays. When he turned a corner, the flashlight shined on who he was looking for. Dolores. Slowly he walked over to the mannequin standing in the center of a display. When he stops in front of it he says quietly,

"Dolores. It's good to see you. I've missed you...obviously. Well, I...It's been a rough couple of days."

Five was about to continue when from behind the display Dolores was on he saw two masked figures with guns.

"No!" He yelled

The masked figures started firing off rounds and the top part of Dolores fell off her leg. Five hid behind a rack of clothes where the figures couldn't see him.

"Oh, shit! It's them." He said to himself

Quickly he ran and grabbed Dolores carrying her with him for a bit before saying,

"I'll be right back for you."

As the masked figures continued to shoot at him he continued to run around the store hiding from them. As he passed a camping section he grabbed a duffle bag and made his way back to Dolores. He started putting her in the bag when the agents attacking him found him. He scooped Dolores up in his arms before running off again. He tried spatial jumping a couple of times but it was no use as he had Dolores with him. His only hope was to get to the doors of the store. Making his way over there he got targeted by the two agents but the sound of a police car caught their attention and he escaped. He hid behind the register with Dolores as the agents left and the police arrived. When things died down he snuck out and made his way back home. When Five got back home he brought the bag with Dolores to his room. Unzipping the bag he took Dolores out and placed her on his desk chair. He has Dolores face his bed and as he goes to his bedroom door to shut it he says,

"I'm glad we got home safely."

When he turns around he sees the imaginary version of you sitting in his desk chair. You have your feet kicked up on his desk.

"Five, why did you come to get me?" Imaginary you asks

"So I could have someone to talk to." He replies

"Five, the real version of me is somewhere in this house waiting to spend time with you. This is ridiculous." imaginary you comments

"But-" Five starts

"No buts. I am not your best friend, I am an imaginary version of them that you used as a coping mechanism to keep you from fully going insane due to loneliness. Your best friend is (Y/N), the real (Y/N), the one you can talk to, and hold and oh I don't know kiss if you actually stopped being a bitch about it and told her you loved her."

"Wow! You too now on the ''tell (Y/N) you love her'' train!"

"Five, I'm in your head. I only say what you want me to. Anything I say to you is just your true thoughts."

"Stop. I don't want to hear it anymore. I can't tell her I love her. With the Commission hot on my ass it puts her at too much risk. I just want to keep her safe while I stop the apocalypse."

"And what if you can't stop the apocalypse in seven days? Do you really want all this time to be spent away from her? You've already spent **45 YEARS** away from her. If you truly love her then instead of telling me, go show her."

"You're right..."

Five takes a look back at the imaginary you. He sees you waving your hand shooing him out of the room and on to spending time with the real you. Five walks out of his bedroom and closes his door heading downstairs to look around for you. After some time of spacial jumping from place to place, he finds you outside in the courtyard. You were sitting on a picnic blanket listening to the radio and looking up at the stars. Slowly he approaches and asks,

"May I join you?"

You look up at him and say,

"Absolutely. I was worried that you were standing me up."

"No, I wouldn't do that. I was just...busy." Five replies sitting down on the blanket next to you

"Oh yeah, I heard about your day." You state with a bit of sarcasm in your voice

"What?" 

"Well, when Klaus came back home he asked for twenty bucks, and when I asked why he said that you owed him $20 dollars for pretending to be your dad and forcibly get patient information out of a doctor because some special eye is the key to the end of the world." You explain

"Damn it, Klaus." Five remarks

"Five, I'm here for you, you don't need to carry the literal weight of the world on your shoulders." You say putting your hand on his shoulder

"I know..." Five despondently replies looking away from you "It's just...after being alone for so long, I've forgotten what it's like to be around people you can rely on. I don't know what it's like to just live because I still feel like I'm trying to fight to survive."

Gently you place a hand on his cheek and turn his face back to look at yours. Looking him in the eyes you quietly say,

"You don't have to fight your battles on your own now. It's not just you anymore, it's us."

Between the soft look in your eyes, the warmth of your touch, and the strength of your words, Five couldn't help but breakdown. All these years he dealt with the knowledge that the world would end, he dealt with the overwhelming loneliness of the apocalypse, and even more so he had to deal with the grief of finding his family dead and watching you die. When he was alone he forced himself to be strong and keep going because he had to survive in that desolate world, he forced himself to be tough and mentally resilient when he worked at the Commission because he couldn't let them on to what he was doing, but at this moment with you, he realized that he didn't need to do that anymore. He didn't need to be strong, or mentally resilient, he didn't need to survive because he had you. Deep down he was just an emotionally scarred kid who longed for someone to help him and now he finally had that. You pulled Five into your chest and wrapped your arms around him as you let him release all the feelings he had kept inside. Tightly he wrapped his arms back around you. You could feel him shaking as he grabbed two fistfuls of your shirt to hold on to. Gently you stroked his hair as his sobs echoed through the starry night. You could feel the stream of tears he spilled soaking your shirt but you didn't care because you knew what it was like to be in his place. You too were once completely alone and you had to force yourself to continue to live even if the pieces weren't really there. You could only imagine how much worse it was for Five, with no people to exist at all, he truly was alone. You could feel your eyes start to well up as your heart broke for your best friend, you'd never wish what he had gone through on anyone. For a while, you two sat there as he let everything out but soon enough his sobs started to quiet and his eyes started to dry. Slowly, he pulled himself out of your chest and looked at you. You placed your hands on his face and using your thumbs gently wiped the last of his tears away. Noticing where Klaus has busted Five's lip you lightly ran your finger over the spot. Five was a little shocked but he appreciated the gesture. You were so caring and gentle with him and he adored you even more for it. The sound of the music coming from the radio caught Five's attention.

"You know what I haven't done in a very long time?" Five asked

"What?" You reply curious

"Dance," He said standing up and extending a hand "Care to dance with me?"

"I'd love to." You reply grabbing his hand

The soft music of the radio plays in the background as the two of you dance around the courtyard. You look towards Five and he smiles. To him, every time he held you in his arms was better than the last. You got lost in his blue eyes and it felt like you were walking on air. You didn't realize it but you were. You had unintentionally made both you and Five lighter than air and so the two of you were gently swaying under the night sky. Five looked down for a second and saw that you two were just a bit off the ground. Your powers had really improved while he was gone. Five looked back to you and commented,

"This is a neat trick."

Confused you looked down. When you saw what was happening your unintentional lightness stopped and you started to fall towards the ground. Quickly spacial jumping Five placed himself underneath you and caught you in his arms.

"I told you I'm not going to let you fall."

Carefully, Five put you down on the ground and said,

"How about we go watch one of those movies that I missed out on?"

"Yeah, sure" you reply

You stood there speechless for a second as he walked away. When he realized you weren't following Five came back and grabbed your hand to bring you inside. You started to walk with him but your head was still up in space. He had told you before that he wasn't going to let you fall but you couldn't stop it because everything this boy did made you fall for him more and you were curious as to what these next days would bring.


	16. Saltwater On Ivory

Bright sunlight shined through the large windows of the parlor hitting Five straight in the face. Five slowly opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings confused for a moment. He was sitting on the ground leaning up against the parlor couch. Looking around he saw popcorn and DVD cases on the floor and a TV on the bar. He tried to get up but he realized that his left arm wasn't budging. Looking at it he saw that you were laying on the couch asleep, your arms wrapped around his left arm. The two of you must've fallen asleep watching movies last night. As much as he wanted to stay he knew that he needed to figure out the mystery of how to stop the apocalypse. Slowly and carefully he removed his left arm from your grasp. Once he had it back he tried pushing himself up to stand but when he tried he felt a strong soreness in his right arm. Taking a look at it he sees a tear in his jacket sleeve and a cut in his arm. Forcing himself through the soreness he gets up and goes to the upstairs bathroom to grab the first aid kit. Going to his room he takes his jacket and dress shirt off and starts to clean and sew up the cut. When he finishes sew up the cut, he places a Billy the Choo-Choo bandaid over it and puts on a new academy uniform. Grabbing the bag that he used to carry Dolores back to the house yesterday he opened it up on his bed. Turning to his desk chair he sees imaginary you standing there with your arms crossed.

"You're leaving her again?" Imaginary you comments

"The apocalypse is still going to happen." Five replies "Now I'm putting you in the bag since you're coming with me."

"Don't put me in the bag, go wake and take the real (Y/N)," you reply

"Not happening. Too dangerous." Five replies grabbing the mannequin from the chair

"Randomly leaving is not a good expression of love no matter how good the intentions are," you reply

He places Dolores in the bag and starts to zipper it up.

"Don't you dare zipper this bag up on me I'm not done arguing with you." Imaginary you exclaims

Five does not listen and zips up the bag. Putting the bag on his back he opens the window by his bedroom and steps out onto the fire escape. Walking down it he can hear his brother Klaus exclaim,

"I'm trying to find whatever...priceless crap was in that priceless box so that Pogo will get off my ass!"

As Five climbs down the ladder of the fire escape, he looks at his brother in the dumpster in the alley by the house.

"I'd ask what you're up to, Klaus, but then it occurred to me... I don't care." Five comments

"You know there are easier ways out of the house, buddy?" Klaus replies

"This one involved the least amount of talking. Or so I thought." Five states annoyed

"(Y/N) won't be happy about this" Ben says to Klaus "Him leaving without saying anything again."

"Oh yeah, you're right." Klaus replies before turning to Five "(Y/N) won't be happy about this!"

Five looks down at the ground ashamed that he was leaving her without even a goodbye, again. It was safest for her if she didn't know where he was because then if he was ambushed by Hazel and Cha Cha nothing bad would happen to her.

"I know, I know. If you see her and she asks tell her I'm sorry." Five replies, remorse in his voice

"Will do, but uh hey...do you need any more company today? I could, uh... clear my schedule." Klaus says leading over the edge of the dumpster

"Looks like you've got your hands full." Five says looking at him

"Oh, this? No, no. I can do this whenever. I'm just- I just misplaced something. That's all." Klaus explains before reaching down into the dumpster and grabbing a half-eaten bagel "Found it! Thank God! Delicious."

"I'm done funding your drug habit." Five says walking away

Come on! You don't- Maybe I just wanna hang out with my brother!" Klaus yells to him before turning to Ben and saying "Not you." 

Five ignores Klaus' incomprehensible yelling and gets in the _Rocco and Family Plumbing_ van before speeding off to sit outside the Meritech building. When he arrives he parks across the street from the building and stares at the doctor whom he had talked with the day before. He watches as the doctor makes his way into the building taking glances over his shoulder every now and then. Once the doctor is inside the building and out of view Five opens the duffle bag he brought and sits Dolores up. 

"Hey, sorry you were in there for so long." He says

"Five what are all these bottles? Are you drunk? You're not even legal age and even if you were you shouldn't be driving under the influence." Imaginary you states

"No, I'm not drunk. I'm working." He replies 

"Is this about that eye thing you've been on?" Imaginary you asks

"Yes, it's about the eye thing. This is the place it was made or will be made. We just have to wait." Five responds

"Whatever," Imaginary you reply

And so in the van Five sat and waited for something to happen.

_________________________

"Hey kiddo, wake up." someone says shaking you

Blinking your eyes open you see Diego standing there. You sit up from the couch you were sleeping on and take a look around at your surrounding. You see DVD cases and empty popcorn bags but not the boy spent time with.

"He's gone again, huh?" You talk out loud "I'm gonna kill him next time I see him."

"Can I join in on this?" Diego asks

"Sure it'll be a brother-sister bonding activity." You reply with a laugh

Diego smiles and rolls his eyes at you. Extending a hand he helps you off the couch and states,

"Mom's making breakfast, I thought I'd come to get you so you could have some."

"Oh good, I'm starving." You reply "Although I don't feel like walking."

"Really? This again?" Diego questions 

You nod your head yes and Diego lets out a sigh. Crouching down you climb on his back as he piggybacks you down to the kitchen. He had been doing this for years. Even when you were both 13 he would give you piggybacks around the house. At first, it was a ploy to get him to bring you places without you walking, even though you could transport yourself easily. You had told him that if he carried you all the places then he would build up more strength, therefore, closing the ability gap between him and Luther. There came a point where he realized that you were using him so you didn't have to walk but at that point, it had become routine and fun for him so he didn't stop. The two of you even challenged the other kids to piggyback races up the many flights of stairs in the house with Diego carrying you and Luther carrying Allison. Diego and you always won the races. Perhaps you might've used your powers to make yourself lighter to carry and Allison heavier but you would never admit to it. Luther was always ahead of Diego, he was literally number one, so you liked giving Diego those little wins every now and there. When you disappeared giving you piggybacks was something he missed. Granted he missed you in general, you were the truest sibling he had, but not being able to just spend the time carrying you around and talking to you was hallowing. Once you got back in 2013 though, he started carrying you around again. It just felt natural to him to do and it reminded him of some rare happy times from his childhood but also since you were like a little sister to him now nobody could kidnap you if you were on his back. Although he acted like piggybacking you bothered him, really he was happy to do it.

When the two of you get to the kitchen you hop off his back and take a seat at the kitchen table and Diego takes a seat next to you. Grace faces away from you two as she hums to herself while cooking.

"Hey Mom," Diego says

"Good morning, Mom." You add

Grace turns around and with a smile replies,

"Good morning! How are two of my wonderful children doing this morning?"

"We're doing good but I am very hungry." You reply

"Well, it's a good thing that I just finished making some breakfast," Grace exclaims

Grace hands you and Diego each a plate with two sunny sides up eggs and two pieces of bacon forming a smiley face. She then leans over the table and looks around before whispering.

"Shh...don't tell Luther and Allison but I only gave each of them one piece of bacon so I could give you guys two." 

You and Diego give each other a knowing look as you start eating your meals. Grace would never say that she had favorite children but you and Diego liked to think that you were. The two of you were the closest to Grace. Diego was a mama's boy, he loved his mom more than anything. He loved her so much so he had taken his father's monocle from her and thrown it away so that there would be no suspicion that she killed their father. He knew that Luther was going crazy about his death and wouldn't accept it as a natural one so he had to stop him from going ballistic on her. Luther was ready to accuse his siblings left and right that they had a hand in their father's death so Diego knew he had to do what he was best for Grace. And then with you living in the house, there was no way you couldn't be a favorite of hers. She had no other children to take care of except for you and you were constantly by her side when you were home. Grace adored you because you filled a void that was left by the absence of all her other children. You were her littlest child and she wanted to make sure that she gave you everything she needed.

"Oh (Y/N)?" Grace called

"Yeah mom?" you replied

"I haven't heard you play the piano since before Mr. Hargreeves passed away. Would you mind playing for me later today? I enjoy hearing you practice." Grace asked

"Of course mom. No matter what I'll be sure to play for you later tonight." You reply

You looked around at your mom and older brother. It was not the most orthodox family but it was family nonetheless. You loved these two more than anything and would be devastated if anything happened to either of them. The academy was a place in which you lived but it was your mom who made this your home. Happily, you sit there eating your breakfast when Luther walks into the room. 

"Diego." He calls out

Diego turns to look at Luther.

"We're going to have a family meeting in the parlor in an hour, there are somethings we need to discuss." Luther states

"Alright, the two of us will be there," Diego says gesturing to you

"Diego, I said family meeting," Luther replies

The message that Luther was trying to say came across loud and clear. You were not family. Diego quickly stands up and looks angrily at Luther.

"She is family." He firmly states

"Diego, you know what I mean stop being stubborn about this." Luther retorts

"She's not just some stranger who happens to live here Luther! It's (Y/N)! And even if she's not family to you, she's family to me." Diego yells

"I'm not dealing with this, I have to gather the others. Just be there in an hour." Luther says before leaving the kitchen

Diego sits back down and places a hand on your shoulder.

"Don't listen to him okay? You're family no matter what he says. Also, he's been irrational ever since this whole ordeal started and he's typically wrong anyway." Diego says comfortingly

"I think he's just under a lot of stress right now and he doesn't know what he's saying. Maybe when he calms down he'll apologize." Grace adds

You appreciated the support from Diego and Grace. You knew that to most of the Hargreeves you weren't family but more so a family friend and you were okay with that, but what hurt was that Luther didn't want you to be part of what was going on at all. Diego had a point when he said that you weren't just a stranger living in the house. As much as you didn't agree with Mr. Hargreeves if something was suspicious about his death you wanted to help because you cared about the Hargreeves siblings. It was moments like these that showed how much things had changed while you were gone.

"I don't want to upset the family so I'll go to the courtyard while all of you talk." You state to Diego

"Are you sure? I'm always willing to fight Luther." Diego replies

"I know you are, but I'm sure." You reply

"Alright," Diego says

The two of you turn back to your meals and just enjoy spending time with your mom as you eat. Hopefully, you could be involved in something with the family later on.

_________________________

Five had been looking out of the van at the Meritech building for a while. He rolled the glass eye, the key to the apocalypse, in his hand as he looked about the surroundings. As he sat there he watched as some young kids passed by the van kicking a ball around. Time seemed to slow as they passed by and for a second Five zoned out. When he came back into focus he saw ash falling inside the van. Frantically he looks around and sees it everywhere. Stepping outside of the van he looks around his surroundings. The world was once again nothing but fire and rubble. Destruction laid about the area. The apocalypse happened again. Frightened Five yells out

"Nooo!"

"Five!" someone calls out

The sound of his name pulls him back to reality. Five tires to catch his breath as his heart races. It wasn't real. There's still time left. Someone then opens the passenger side door and when Five looks he sees that it is Luther. Luther attempts to get through the door and into the passenger seat. It takes a bit but when he finally gets in he closes the door and asks Five,

"You okay?"

Five looks at Luther confused and says,

"You shouldn't be- How did you find me?"

Luther looks in the back of the van and Five's eyes follow. What they see is Klaus holding Dolores in his arms. 

"Hey, a little privacy, guys. We're really hitting it off back here." Klaus says

"This is weird." Imaginary you says to Five

"Get out! You can't be here! I'm in the middle of something." Five yells throwing a bottle at Klaus

"Any luck finding your one-eyed man?" Klaus asks making his way up to the front

"No." Five whispers

"What's he talking about?" Luther questions

"Does it matter? It's Klaus. What do you want, Luther?" Five retorts

"So, Grace may have had something to do with Dad's death. I need you to come back to the academy, all right? It's important." Luther explains

" _It's important_. You have no concept of what's important." Five remarks, annoyance in his tone

"Did I ever tell you guys about the time I waxed my ass with chocolate pudding? It was so painful." Klaus interjects

"What are you still doing here?" Five asks Klaus

"We're trying to have a serious conversation," Luther adds

"And I'm incapable of being serious? Is that what you're saying?" Klaus questions

"Luther's got a point, you should get out." Five states

"Fine!" Klaus shouts exiting the vehicle

"What the hell are you up to?" Luther asks turning his attention back to Five

"You wouldn't understand." Five replies bluntly

"You know what your problem is? You think you're better than us. You always have. Even when we were kids. But the truth is, you're just as messed up as the rest of us. We're all you have. And you know it." Luther criticizes

"I don't think that I'm better than you, Number One. I know I am. There's only one person who I know I'm not better than and that's (Y/N). And in terms of things I have, it's not just this family. You act like (Y/N) isn't a significant part of our lives, a significant part of my life." Five frustratedly explains "You just don't get it, Luther, I've done unimaginable things, things you couldn't even comprehend just to get back here and save you all. Now get out I'm busy."

The two then notice as Klaus runs across the street with items from the convenience store he just stole from in his hands. As he runs he is being chased by an employee from the store. Klaus then gets hit by a car in the street and Luther decides that he needs to take Klaus back to the house. Exiting the car he grabs Klaus and they head on their way back home while Five continues to sit and wait. 

_________________________

"Guys time for the family meeting!" Luther shouts throughout the house

Slowly the other siblings make their way into the parlor and over towards the bar where a TV is sitting. You also enter the parlor but as you do Luther says,

"(Y/N) you know you're not included in this meeting."

"I know. Just let me grab a book real quick so I can go read to Ben's statue in the courtyard like I do every afternoon." You remark back to him

"Oh, uh alright. Sorry." Luther says embarrassed at his overreaction

"She reads books to my statue in the courtyard every day? That's so sweet." Ben comments to Klaus

"Yeah but you know what else is sweet? These chips I stole." Klaus replies

You look through the books and find a paperback of an Anton Chekhov play. Grabbing it you start to leave the parlor.

"Klaus, quick ask her what book she chose," Ben tells Klaus

"Uh - hey (Y/N)!" Klaus exclaims with a mouth full of chips

You stop in your tracks and look at him.

"Yeah?" You reply confused

"What book did you choose?" Klaus asks shoving more chips into his mouth

"Uh, it's an Anton Chekhov play. I remember Ben used to read a lot of his works in the original Russian language so I'm going to go read it to him...or well his statue I guess." You answer

You then turn and walk out of the parlor knowing you probably wouldn't be welcome there for much longer. You walk out the front door and around the house to the courtyard. Sitting on the podium portion of Ben's statue you open the book and start to read. You didn't know if Ben was around but you still read to his statue every day as you wanted to give him something to enjoy given the fact that death was probably really lonely.

After you responded Ben didn't say anything to Klaus, he just watched as you left with the book in your hand. All these years he had spent with Klaus he forgot what it was like to have someone be considerate of him. He loved his brother and all, that's part of the reason he stuck around with him, but Klaus is under the influence most of the time and rarely ever takes Ben's feelings or ideas into consideration. To have you think about him and read to his statue every day even though you didn't know that he was here was the nicest thing anyone had done for him since he died. It might've been the nicest thing someone had done for him since you disappeared. Ben turned his attention back to the conversation his siblings were having but the thought that you cared for him even long after he was gone stuck in his mind. Luther plays the tape that shows the night their father died on the TV. The siblings watch it multiple times before Vanya asks,

"I mean, do you really think mom would hurt dad?" 

"You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya. Maybe you don't know Grace anymore." Luther replies taking a glance at her

Diego stands in front of the TV next to Luther. With his arms crossed he comments in a matter-of-fact tone,

"If he was poisoned, it would have shown in the coroner's report." 

"Well, I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes." Luther retorts gesturing to the TV

"Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your vision." Diego states approaching the TV and replaying the tape "Look closer. Dad has his monocle. Mom stands up. Monocle's gone." 

"Oh, yeah!" Klaus exclaims with a smile

"She wasn't poisoning him. She was... taking it. To clean it." Diego explains walking away from the TV and group before turning around to them

"Then where is it? No, I've searched the house, including her things. She doesn't have it." Luther explains looking at the group

Diego looks down and fiddles with one of his knives. He didn't want to have to come clean about this, he just wanted the blame to not fall on his mom, but he knew that Luther would continue to cling to the whole monocle issue unless he knew what happened to it. Diego looks up and slowly explains,

"That's because I took it from her. After the funeral."

"You've had the monocle this whole time? What the hell, Diego?" Allison snaps

"Give it to me," Luther demands putting his hand out

"I threw it away." Diego states bluntly

"You what?" Luther says angrily as he starts to approach Diego

"Look, I knew that if you found it on Mom, you'd lose your shit, just like you're doing right now." Diego harshly explains pointing the knife in his hand towards Luther

"Diego, you son of a bitch." Luther mumbles

The two of them square up as if they about to fight, getting in defensive stances. Diego puts his hands up ready to throw the first blow but Vanya steps in between them and states,

"Hey. No. Calm down. Look, I know Dad wasn't exactly an open book. But I do remember one thing he said. Mom was, well, designed to be a caretaker, but... also as a protector." 

"What does that mean?" Allison questions taking a sip from her whiskey glass

"She was programmed to intervene if someone's life was in jeopardy," Vanya adds

"Well, if her hardware is degrading, then...We need to turn her off." Luther says

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. She's not just a vacuum cleaner you can throw in a closet. She feels things, I've seen it!" Diego yells at Luther

"She just stood there, Diego, and watched our father die." Luther retorts

"Oh so now you're going to take another parent from (Y/N), huh? You are such a golden boy to dad that even after the man had died you're willing to wreck the lives of people around you for some theory that dad's death was more than old age." Diego yells louder pointing a knife right at Luther's face "That's (Y/N)'s mom too and just because you don't give a shit about anyone other than dad or Allison doesn't mean that I do too. Over my dead body are you doing anything to hurt either (Y/N) or mom."

"Guys." Allison interjects "Speaking of (Y/N), there's something I need to show you all."

The other four siblings quiet down and turn their attention to Allison. She approaches the bar and puts her glass down before walking behind it and pulling out a few tapes.

"What are those?" Luther asks

"Well, when I was looking through the tapes I saw that certain dates between 2013 and now were cut out and I knew that didn't make sense since we had this footage of mom with dad from just a few days ago. So I looked around a bit and I found this tape hidden." Allison explains

"What does it have to do with (Y/N)?" Diego asks defensively

"Well it just features her, but if dad was in charge of the security footage I don't understand why he would take these clips and stitch them together to make their own tape," Allison replies

"Well let's watch them then. Maybe it will clue us into something." Vanya suggests

"I agree, pop the tape in." Luther directs

Allison pops the tape in. It takes a minute for the tape to load but when it starts playing the five siblings watch. The first bit of footage that appears has the date in the corner of 11/22/13. The siblings watch in shock as the scene of you realizing that you were in the future and everyone was gone unfolds. Your cries of sorrow as you collapse in front of the portrait of Five echoes through the speakers of the TV and send chills down their spines. The moment was so harrowing that even Klaus who was perpetually high was sobered by it. The end of the clip faded and the next one began but a heavy silence loomed in the air. The group of siblings was visibly shaken by the first clip they just watched. How could they not be? With the Hargreeves being silent the only sounds that were around were that of the tapes. The next few clips were less sad. There was one where you decorated Ben's statue in an overwhelming amount of Christmas tinsel, a Santa hat, and googly eyes. There were a few of you just happily dancing around the house. Some of the clips showed the extent of your powers such as one where you were training with their dad, another when you were able to make their old child uniforms walk around as if they were people, another where you learned to stand on the ceiling. They watched the clip of you coming downstairs in your prom dress but after that, the tape stopped. There was nothing else to watch.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm not getting many clues from this." Klaus says "But when I was high one time I saw this dude on TV advertising his detective services. He has a blue dog and then he finds clues and puts them in his notebook and he's got like a hundred percent success rate."

"Are you suggesting we get Steve from Blue's Clues to help?" Allison questions confused

"Oh, you know him already?" Klaus replies

The rest of the siblings look back at him in annoyance before turning their attention back to the tape they watched.

"I just don't get it. These look like ordinary clips. What do you think they mean?" Luther asks the group

"Maybe dad just wanted some home videos of her?" Vanya suggests

"No, there has to be some meaning to this. Maybe dad was worried about her given the strength of her power. Maybe she-" Luther starts

Whipping out a knife again Diego points it at Luther and yells,

"Shut up, don't you dare finish that statement. If you even so much as suggest that (Y/N) had any involvement in his death, I will kill you without hesitation. First of all, by the looks of those videos she was having a dandy fucking time here and last time I checked happy people don't commit murder for no reason. Second of all, she wasn't even there when he died because she was with me at my boxing match."

"I'm just trying to figure out what's going on," Luther replies

"You're antagonizing a child who has been through enough. Y'know what I'm sick of this. I'm out." Diego states before storming off

"Well if we're done here I'm leaving too," Klaus adds

"Guys, stop," Luther calls out

Vanya takes a look at Luther before looking down at the ground and hesitantly walking away. Allison slowly walks over to Luther, puts her drink down on the bar, and turns her attention to him. She then says,

"Diego might be getting overly emotional about it but he has a point. She's just a kid Luther and she's been through enough. You need to stop treating her like a menace to this family because to most of us at least, she is family."

Without another word, Allison walks away and Luther is left by himself. Luther wasn't sure why he was antagonizing you so much. Maybe it was because you had been living in the house for years and his dad didn't mention it once. Maybe it was because you trained with his dad and your powers were possibly stronger than his. Or maybe it was because Vanya's point might be true. Maybe it was just some home videos and he was jealous that his dad might've shown you some form of care. He didn't know, but for now, you were still on his suspect list. And so like the others, he left the parlor and went to be alone.

Like the Hargreeves typically did, everyone left the other person alone unless they actually wanted to be around that person. Allison and Luther looked at the moon from the attic window. Klaus spent his time in the bathtub listening to music. Vanya spent some alone time walking around the house and you and Diego hung out in your room, his old room. Diego told you stories about what it was like after you had gone. How he had Mom help him with his stutter and how his dad was disappointed in him for having it. It was hard for you to hear and you knew it was painful for Diego. The two of you sat in your room for a while but after a while, he decided to get up and give you some time alone. It was your room after all. As he walked down the hall he heard a sound coming to the right of him and when he looked over he saw two people in animal masks with guns. The two people raised their guns at him and started shooting off rounds. At first, Diego attempted to fight them but when he realized his knives weren't doing anything he ran off towards the balcony overlooking the parlor and jumped over it landing on a couch. He hid behind one of the tables as he heard the gunmen run into the room. As the gunmen fire off in his direction behind the table Allison runs in and distracts them but another taller figure grabs a hold of her neck. Luther grabs the guy and throws him into the foyer where his other partner is. As the Hargreeves run around the house the gunman split up to follow. The dog eared gunman takes on Allison and Diego in the kitchen while the bear masked one fights Luther after he attempted to attack Vanya.

Hearing all the commotion you rush out of your room and watch Luther fight the man from the top of the foyer stairs. You couldn't sit around and do nothing so you used your power to make Luther's fists denser for when he attacked his assailant. Luther quickly punched and knocked the man down to the ground and when he thought he was out cold Luther started to enter the parlor to find Vanya. The assailant suplexed Luther though and started to enter the parlor himself. Transporting yourself to the parlor you made yourself invisible and found where Vanya was. Standing in front of her you made sure that if the assailant man got any closer you would attack. The bear masked man walked out of the parlor but immediately after you hear a loud crash. Exiting the parlor you saw Luther underneath the foyer chandelier. Using your powers you helped make it lighter so that he could easily lift it off himself. All of you looked around to see if you could find the animal masked gunmen but they were nowhere to be seen.

The house quieted down as the two perpetrators fled the scene. You transported yourself to the kitchen to get ice for Vanya's head and concerned about Grace, Diego quickly made his way to her. He found her on her bench in the art gallery making another cross-stitch. With a far off look in her eyes, she hums a tune as she works.

"Mom. You okay?" He concernedly asks lacing a hand on her shoulder

"Of course I am." Grace replies with a smile

"You didn't hear the noises? The guys in the masks that just shot up the house?" questions confused

Grace looks up at him and with a smile asks back,

"What are you talking about, silly?" 

Diego slowly sits down next to her on her bench. Grace continues to hum while she works on her cross-stitch but Diego notices that she had stuck the needle and pulled the threat through her hand. Grace doesn't notice as Diego kneels down in front of her and pulls out one of his knives. Diego sadly looks his mother in the eyes before slowly cutting open her left arm and exposing the wiring within.

"Diego? What are you doing?" Grace questions him

Although Diego is looking at the wiring in her arm Grace looks upon one of her children sadly as she understands why he is doing this. It's not out of malice but out of love. Slowly, Diego looks back up at Grace and stutters out,

"It's gonna be o-"

"Remember what we worked on. Just picture the word in your mind." Grace replies to him

"It's gonna be okay...M-M-Mom." He replies getting the words out

As he says that he undoes the wiring effectively turning her off. The hand holding the cross stitch goes limp and her eyes start to flutter closed. With the last bit of power she has Grace mumbles out,

"Take care of her...Di-e-go...."

With those words spoken her eyes close and her head falls limp. Diego looks on in shock before getting up and walking away. He needed to find the space to breathe. As Diego was walking away from his mom, you were walking towards her. You had gotten the same idea to check on her but when you arrived she was already gone. You walked over in confusion but as you got closer you saw the real scene at hand.

"MOM!" You screamed out running over to her 

You shook her lifeless shoulders calling out mom over and over again but it was no use. Not knowing what to do you called out for your older brother.

"DIEGO! COME QUICK!" You shouted into the house

Diego rushed over to where you were and when he saw you his heart sank. You looked at him with teary eyes.

"W-w-we need to get help." You stutter

Slowly he approaches you. He looks between your concerned face and the face of his now powerless mother. His heart felt heavy but he wasn't going to let you know he did this. You wouldn't understand why. Placing a hand on your shoulder he said,

"I think it's too late"

She must've gotten hurt during the gunfight and now you were too late, you couldn't save her. You stare at your mom for a bit before standing. Getting up from Grace's side you turn towards the staircase and start making your way towards them. Diego looks at you confused and asks,

"(Y/N), where are you going?"

"To the piano," You say with tears forming in your eyes "I promised I'd play for her no matter what."

Diego looked at you with immense sadness in his eyes, the heaviness in his heart growing heavier. Slowly you make your way downstairs and over to the piano with Diego trailing behind you. You stared at the piano for a moment hesitant to touch it. You had a promise to keep though and with a shaky hand, you open the lid, exposing the piano keys. Carefully you sit down on the piano bench, your hands hover over the keys as you take in the silent aftermath of the fight that occurred in the house. With a deep breath you start to play the chords Supermarket Flowers, it was the only song that came to your mind at the moment. The sound of the piano echoed throughout the old house. From where the other siblings were they followed the sound of the music as if it was beckoning them to come. You weren't one to openly sing but your heart decided otherwise tonight and as the music flowed through you, you sang,

_"Oh I'm in pieces, it's tearing me up, but I know  
A heart that's broke is a heart that's been loved. _ _So I'll sing Hallelujah,  
You were an angel in the shape of my mom.  
When I fell down you'd be there holding me up.  
Spread your wings as you go,  
And when God takes you back we'll say Hallelujah  
You're home."_

The other siblings made their way into the parlor and looked at the scene before them. Slowly they formed a semi-circle behind you and solemnly listened as you played. Vanya's head was hung low and Allison leaned into Luther for support. You started to shake from the overwhelming nature of your emotions but you kept your composure and pushed through playing the piece. You put every ounce of your being into the music, playing your hardest so that the whole world could hear you play. The saltwater in your eyes started to drop down on to the ivory keys and you could feel your voice waver but you sang the chorus again,

_"I hope that I see the world as you did cause I know,  
A life with love is a life that's been lived. _ _So I'll sing Hallelujah,  
You were an angel in the shape of my mom.  
When I fell down you'd be there holding me up.  
Spread your wings as you go,  
And when God takes you back we'll say Hallelujah  
You're home."_

The music from the piano became more intense as you played on and the emotion in it became increasingly sorrowful. Placing a hand on your shoulder as you played Diego dropped his tough demeanor and let his true emotions show. The tears streamed from his eyes as he let out painful sobs. He knew he had to do what he did but his mom was gone and in this moment he was experiencing the worst pain he had ever felt. In his time in the academy, he had been hit, beaten, cut by blades, and grazed by bullets but none of that compared to what he felt in this moment. A part of him was missing and it was unlikely he would ever get it back. As the song neared its end you could not contain yourself anymore and like your brother Diego you let your sadness spill out. You had not felt this distraught since the day you had lost everyone. The pain of this moment was identical because once again someone who loved and cared for you was gone. Barely audible you choked out the words of the song once more,

_"Hallelujah,  
You were an angel in the shape of my mom.  
You got to see the person that I have become.  
Spread your wings,  
And I know that when God took you back he said Hallelujah  
You're home."_

As the last note of the song reverbed through the empty house you tried to get up but as you stood you collapsed to your knees. Your body once more feeling the weight of a difficult loss. Diego dropped to his knees and held you in his arms and you held him back. The other siblings watched as the two of you cried in each other's arms. Your mother was gone. And on this night the already empty house became a bit emptier.


	17. The Missing Tapes - "Saltwater On Ivory" Side Story

**Recording Date: 11/30/13**

You sat sadly at your desk in what was now your room, formerly Diego's room. It had only been eight days since you had arrived in 2013 but it felt like an eternity. The house was lonely and the emptiness loomed heavily over you reminding you of a time gone by. A time that you missed out on. You remembered running around the house with the Hargreeves kids along with the different activities you would do with all of them. You just missed the life you once had. As you sat in the desk chair reminiscing about your past and wondering what to do you heard a sound coming from outside your door. It sounded like someone running down the hall. Opening the bedroom door you look left and right but no one is there to be seen. You hear sounds coming from where the foyer stairs were. Making your way over there you follow the sounds. 

Heading down the stairs you go into the parlor. As you enter you take one look around the room before stepping back startled at the sight. In the room were six uniforms walking around. There were no bodies in the uniforms. Just masks, clothes, and shoes walking around as if people were wearing them. Slowly making your way in, you head towards the bar where you see one of the invisible figures pouring a drink. You grab the bottle of alcohol from them and the arms on the uniform jacket raise up as if to say _"what the hell"_. You walk away to put the bottle down on a table but almost trip over another uniform doing pushups on the ground with a different uniform sitting on the jacket back holding an open magazine. Carefully making your way around them you put the bottle of alcohol down on a table but when you turn around another uniform holds two pieces of sheet music. There was no mask on this one. You watch as one jacket sleeve raises up and then the other. You assumed they were asking for help picking which piece of music to look at. Hesitantly pointing to the piece on the left the uniform turns and walks away. You make your way over to the library part of the parlor and as you do you see another uniform reading Shakespeare's Hamlet on one of the couches. You were growing more confused by the second and started to slowly back up into the bookcase. As you did so you saw something glint out of the corner of your eye. Reacting quickly you grabbed at the item flying at you. Taking a look at what you had just caught you see that it is a knife. Lowing the hand that held the knife you look in the direction from which it came. Another domino masked figure wearing an academy uniform. You blinked a couple of times but when your vision came into focus you saw your thirteen-year-old friends.

"(Y/N), stop taking the whiskey away from me," Klaus complains heading over to the table you put it on

"Oh c'mon Klaus, she's just trying to help keep you sober since apparently, you won't listen to me about it," Ben says looking up from the Hamlet book

"(Y/N)," a voice called and you looked in their direction "Thanks for helping me choose my music."

It was Vanya. 

"(Y/N) why don't you come join me on Luther's back while he does pushups. There some juicy gossip in the magazine you got me." Allison calls out from across the room

"Yeah right. Luther's not strong enough for the two of you." You hear someone say to the right of you

You turn to look and there Diego was standing next to you. Heckling Luther as he always had.

"I don't see you doing 500 push-ups a day Diego," Luther calls back continuing his workout

You look around the room at all the kids in their uniforms going about their lives as if nothing had ever happened.

"Diego, where is Five?" You ask him

Diego turns to look at you and says,

"He's not here, I'm sorry sis."

Diego wraps his arms around you to hug you and you hug him back tightly. Closing your eyes shut you try to hold back the tears that were coming on. You let out a deep breath but when you opened your eyes Diego wasn't there anymore. None of them were. All that was left was six piles of uniforms, masks, and shoes scattered about the parlor. You went around the room and gathered up the clothes and walked them to the laundry room for Grace to take care of. You unknowingly had used your powers to create your friends. The uniforms walked around and acted just like they had. You saw your friends in your mind but it was a false reality. You had to try and come to terms with the fact that everyone was gone. You went back up to your room and hoped that you wouldn't accidentally use your powers to trick yourself again.

**Recording Date: 4/11/14**

"I don't want to do this stupid project!" You yell out

"I know sweetie...but it's a school project, you can't just ignore it." Grace replies

"I didn't even get a say. My friends outvoted me six to one." You complain

"Well, they don't understand how it affects you and if you explained it you know they wouldn't understand." Grace tries to comfort 

"But out of all the superhero project choices why did they have to go with The Umbrella Academy..."

Grace makes her way over to you and crouches down so she is eye level with you.

"I know this is difficult for you. I can't imagine how many memories it brings back up for you and how much it hurts. What I do know is that no matter what you're feeling I'm here for you and I know that you're a strong young woman. You've been through so much already and I know that you can make it through this too. Shall we try your part again from the top?" Grace says

You nod your head and take a deep breath before starting.

"Four members of the Umbrella Academy come before me, I'm number f-f-f" You stutter

You could feel your heart wrench as it had done many times before when you practiced. This project was the worst for so many reasons. Your friends decided that you guys should do The Umbrella Academy for your superhero project report. You didn't want to and voted against it but when they asked why you couldn't explain to them everything you had been through. Knowing the academy before they became famous, being friends with them, accidentally traveling through time. It was too much and they wouldn't understand so you were outvoted. Then they decided to assign a number to each person in the group. Each one of your friends chose the number they identified with most and that included Vanya as number seven since her book had come out recently. Lucas took one, Dean took two, Addison took three, Kenny took four, Bren took six and Victoria took seven. And you were left with Five. Your heart broke every time you tried to recite your portion.

"Picture the word in your mind sweetie, Just like I taught Diego to do."

"Four members of the Umbrella Academy come before me, I'm number f-f-Five. I have the ability to jump through space and t-time. I was only part of the academy for a short while as I went m-m-missing in 2002. My siblings might describe me as pretentious but deep down I really care about others." You recite your part as best you can

"That was great sweetie, you're getting better with every try!" Grace encourages

"Thanks, I'm sure I'll be able to do the presentation with more practice...I just hope they don't go through with the dress up in uniform idea they have though. If so, then I'm in charge of getting them since I have the shortest part. I really don't want that." You explain

"Well like I said no matter what happens with this project I'm here to support you in any way I can. How about we take a break and we make you some cookies to help you feel better?" Grace suggests

You nod your head and Grace gently places a hand on your back guiding you to the kitchen so you two can bake.

**Recording Date: 12/21/15**

The Christmas season rolled around again like it had done in years before. Over the course of the past two years, you were able to have Reginald reluctantly let you decorate more and more. Today though you wanted to decorate one of the most dismal parts of this house. Ben's statue. Every afternoon of every single day you went out there and read to the statue but the sad look on his face was depressing. The statue barely even looked like the boy you knew. You didn't know if his spirit was around but nevertheless, you were going to do something you knew would make him happy. Grabbing a Santa hat and a box of Christmas tinsel you make your way out to the courtyard. Placing the box down on the ground you look up at Ben's statue and say,

"I am going to make you look so fucking festive. I hope you'll like it."

Grabbing the Santa hat you climb on the pedestal of the statue and place the hat on his head. You got one of those hats with the elastic chin straps so the hat would stay on his head no matter what. You then get the tinsel and start wrapping Ben from top to bottom with it. Every part of the statue minus his head was covered in the festive decor. You're about to pack up your supplies and head away but then you remembered one more thing you wanted to do. Stepping on the pedestal once more you grab some large googly eyes out of your pocket and using command putty you stick the googly eyes over top of the statue's eyes. Climbing off the pedestal you comment,

"You look so much better than before Ben."

You proudly take one more look at your festive creation before heading back inside to help decorate the Christmas tree with your mom and Pogo.

**Recording Date: 07/18/16**

Ever since school finished you were trying to find things to do during the summer. Sure you were able to hang out with your friends, train your powers and go out and explore the world but that only consumed a small portion of your time. You walked around the house looking for something to do when you passed Pogo walking in the halls.

"Pogo?" You called

"Yes, miss (Y/N)?" He responded

"What do you do to pass the time?" You questioned

"Well, when I'm not helping Sir Hargreeves typically I will get a book to read from the library," Pogo responds

"Hmm. I think I'll do that. Thank you Pogo." You reply as you walk away

"Anytime, Miss (Y/N)," Pogo says

Making your way to the library you take a look at the abundance of books on the shelves. You didn't want to spend forever looking for a book to read so you decided it was best to just start with the left-most book on the top shelf of the first bookcase and work your way around the cases. You may have taken Pogo's advice too intensely because you were flying through all the books retaining the knowledge they provided. You had no clue what time it was, all you knew is that there was a giant pile of books around you. As you read you could feel yourself falling asleep but you didn't want to sleep. You were in the middle of a book and forced yourself to stay awake. As you were reading Reginald walked into the room.

"What have you done to the library! This is a mess!" Reginald complains

You didn't respond though. He made his way over to you and poked you to get your attention but instead of turning around like he expected you fell to the floor. You had fallen asleep while standing up and reading. This was not the outcome he expected.

"Grace," Reginald calls out

Grace enters the room and says,

"She's fallen asleep here. Get a pillow and blanket or something, just take care of it."

"I'll get on it right away," Grace replies exiting

Reginald takes one more look before leaving the parlor. Grace returns with a pillow and blanket. She manages to get you to the couch and places the blanket on top of you and the pillow under your head. She gives your head a soft pat before marking your place in the book you were reading. Placing the book on the table beside you she turns off the lamps in the room and leaves to let you sleep.

**Recording Date: 9/21/18**

9 pm. September 21st, 2018. Today you were going to participate in an annual ritual that many had partaken in before. Grabbing your portable speaker you synced it up to your phone and turned the volume all the way up. You then made your way to the foyer and set the speaker down on the table in the center of it. With one push of a button, the ritual began as September by Earth Wind and Fire loudly echoed through the house. Dancing to the music you sand along to the lyrics just absolutely going feral. You had drawn the attention of the other residents of the house. Grace and Pogo didn't mind as they enjoyed seeing you have a good time. Reginald on the other hand was less than pleased to have his work being disturbed.

"Will you turn off that music, if it can even be called that." Reginald yells

"No can do Reggie boy it's the 21st night of September and I'm gonna remember it until I hate myself." You reply continuing to dance

"And how long will that take?" He questions

"I dunno, we'll see," you shout back

"Insolent brat." He says with a shake of his head before walking off

"Love you too Reggie!" You shout to him obnoxiously

Boy did you enjoy living here.


	18. 0 1 2 5

After a long day of stalking the doctor from Meritech, Five had decided to go home. He had sat in a van all day and made no progress at all on his lead of learning who the glass eye belonged to. Defeated, he drove the disguise van back to the house and decided to head in the front door since most people would be asleep by now. With Dolores in the bag on his back, he spacial jumped to the front door but saw that it was already open. Walking in, he saw the mess of the chandelier and glass on the floor. He slowly walked forward towards where the chandelier was and looked around. 

"What the hell happened here?" He asks out loud

"A lot." A voice calls out from the parlor

Five places the bag carrying Dolores down and walks into the parlor. Looking around he sees broken glass, torn up furniture, and bullet holes everywhere. On one of the couches, he spots Diego sitting down, a glass of whiskey in his hand and a far off look in his eyes.

"Diego, what happened." Five asks again

"The house got attacked by some psychos with animal masks. Apparently, they're looking for you." Diego says defeated

Five knew who had done this, Hazel and Cha-Cha. They were the best of the best at the Commission, after himself of course. He looked at Diego once more and saw the redness of his eyes. Had he been crying? What would he cry over? Oh no. (Y/N). He knew how much Diego cared about you. Five's heart started to race, he would never forgive himself if something happened to you.

"Is (Y/N) okay?" Five questions frantically

"She's fine. Physically that is. Emotionally is another story." Diego answers

Taking a sip of his drink, Diego gestures to the couch across from him.

"Sit down with me," He says

Five sits down on the other couch quietly and waits for Diego to speak.

"Mom got shut off today." Diego states

"Oh no." Five replied quietly

He knew how much Grace meant to both you and Diego. Diego loved Grace more than he loved any of his siblings, and for you, she became an integral part of your life once you showed up in the future. She became a mother to you when you had no other parents around. You loved her just as much as Diego did and you were probably devastated at the loss just as much as he was.

"Where were you Five?" Diego asks

"I'm busy trying to stop the apocalypse." Five answers

"She needed you and you weren't there," Diego says

"There are people after me, I don't want them hurting her." Five tries to explain

"You're hurting her!" Diego replies, frustration evident in his tone "Y'know what, let me show you something."

Five was taken aback by his outburst. He knew that Diego was protective of her but there was something about his tone that that emphasized what he was saying. It was like he was upset for her. Diego stands up from the couch and slowly makes his way over to the bar with Five trailing behind. Putting a tape in the TV that was there he waits for it to load. Five watches as the tape goes from static to clear audio and video. At first, he's confused about what's going on. A child appears in the foyer of the house but then he hears the voice of the kid and he knew who it belonged to. He watched as you struggled to come to terms with your new reality so much so that you refused to listen to Grace when she said that everyone was gone. Five watched in disbelief as you ran around his old house looking for anyone and finding nothing. The pain and guilt that he felt by accidentally abandoning you in the future and leaving you with the impression he was mad at you already hurt him, but it felt like a stab to the heart as he watches you run into the parlor, the same one that he was in right now, and burst into tears at the sight of his painting over the fireplace. Your small figure collapsed to the ground and screamed into the halls of the empty house. The sound of your pain ripped him apart inside. Tears came to his eyes as he tried to breathe but it felt like his windpipe was being crushed because he couldn't get air into his lungs. How could he have done this to you? How could he have hurt you like that?

"Do you see that Five? That's what it was like for her to lose you," Diego explains turning to him "She lost you once, and she might not say it but she's tired of you leaving because she doesn't want to lose you again."

"I'm so sorry." Five said as he dried his eyes

"Don't say sorry to me, I'm not the one you're hurting. Go make it up to her." Diego replies plopping back down on the couch with his drink

Five slowly makes his way out of the parlor and grabs the bag that held Dolores. He walks up to his bedroom and places the bag down on his bed before turning to go to the bathroom. As he approaches the bathroom the door swings open and you're there.

"Ahhh!" You scream before seeing that Five was there "Jesus Five. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Oh sorry..." he replies sheepishly

"You should be sorry. I told Diego I was going to kill you the next time I saw you for leaving without saying anything again. You're lucky that today has been such a rough day and I don't have the energy to blow off your head." You complain to him

Five knows that you're upset. You lost your mom. Your house had been attacked and he left without saying anything again. He felt bad that you were hurt in so many ways. Five wanted to fix it all but he knew that he couldn't change the past. You looked down and away from him, turning your head to the side. When you did Five noticed a cut on your cheek. 

"(Y/N), how did you get this?" He asked gently brushing his thumb over the cut

You reach up and touch where the cut is on your cheek.

"I must've gotten it when I was trying to fix the chandelier after the fight ended. I thought I could reconstruct the molecules of it to put it all back together but it wasn't working out. I guess when I was attempting to fix some of the glass parts one flew by and cut me." You explain 

"We should fix this up." Five says

"Well, I'm sure it's disinfected though from all the tears I've cried today." you comment

You had used humor as a coping mechanism for a while now. You picked it up from your friends Kenny and Addison and had been using it as one of the ways to hide the pain you felt. If you could make others laugh about it then maybe it wasn't so bad after all. But Five didn't laugh. He grabbed your hand and had you sit on the edge of the tub while he grabbed the first aid kit from the cabinet. Turning his attention to you he took an alcohol wipe and gently ran it across your cut trying not to hurt you. After the cut was clean he took a _Billy the Choo-Choo_ bandaid and placed it over your cut.

"We're matching now." He says

You gave Five a confused look. He then takes off his jacket and places it on top of the toilet seat before rolling up his sleeve and showing you the bandaid on his arm. Slowly, you reach out and touch the bandaid on his arm. 

"And how did you do this?" You question

Five throws his hands in his pockets before looking down at the ground. Hesitantly, he looks at you and answers,

"I had a run-in with those guys that attacked the house,"

"You know them?" You question

"Not fondly, but yes." He replies

Five takes his hands out of his pockets and walks back over to you. He kneels in front of you and grabs your hands in his. Looking up at you he says,

"I'm so sorry that I've pulled you into this mess. I know you said I can lean on you but I don't want you to get hurt and yet it seems that over and over again I have continued to unintentionally hurt you. I dragged you into the future unwillingly, I took away all the familiarity in your life, and now the people who were here for me took Grace from you. I'm so sorry for what happened to Grace, I know how much you loved her."

You could see the sadness in his eyes. As upset as you were with him for leaving at least you knew his reasoning. You didn't like it but you at least understood his motives.

"I don't know what is going to happen over these next couple of days. And I can make no guarantees about them because the only guarantee I want is a future where the world doesn't end, but in terms of my past transgressions can you forgive me?" He asks

You look in his blue eyes and you know in your heart he means what he says. Today was an emotional rollercoaster and at this moment the boy on his knees who was holding your hands and pleading for your forgiveness was just another loop in the ride, but you knew that you couldn't stay upset with him. He was genuinely remorseful and you were not going to punish him for mistakes or the actions of others.

"Yes, I can forgive you." You reply

A smile appears on his face and his eyes light up. Pulling one of your hands closer to him he places a gentle kiss on the top of it before saying,

"Thank you, ma chérie."

Five had not realized what he had done but the sudden display of affection from him led a blush to come to your face. This boy was going to drive you mad one way or another. Five gets up from kneeling on the floor and you get up from sitting on the tub's edge.

"We should get some sleep." You suggest

"Yeah, we should." He replies before noticing what you're wearing "But wait one second, is that my old dress shirt? From the suit that I came back in?"

"Oh uh, yeah, all my pajamas are in the wash, and since you aren't using it I thought you wouldn't mind me wearing it. Do you want me to give it back, I've got my shorts on so I can probably find a shirt to change into." You say

"Uh, it's fine. You can have it." Five responds looking away

The dress shirt was way too big on you, it was like a short loose dress but he wasn't going to lie to himself, you looked good in his shirt. Something about it he just really liked.

"Alright well I'm heading to bed then and you should too." You tell him as you pass by to exit the bathroom "And if you're going out again just leave me a note. Goodnight Five."

"Goodnight, (Y/N)." He forces out

As you left he watched you walk down the hall to your room. When you close your door he closes the door to the bathroom and let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding in. Five went over to the sink and splashed cold water on his face. Placing his hands on the sides of the sink he looked into the mirror and steadied his breathing. Five hadn't really acknowledged the fact that he was in an 18-year-olds body again until now because for the first time in years he remembered what it was like to be in his late teens. Frustrated, he went back to his room and laid in his bed. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep but he couldn't because thoughts of you...and the apocalypse ran through his mind. It felt like forever waiting for the sun to rise but when it did he got up out of his bed and decided that he needed to go back out to stop the apocalypse. He worried about your safety and thought about waking you to bring you with him but seeing that they didn't find him yesterday Hazel and Cha-Cha would probably be looking elsewhere than the academy. Getting ready he put on the academy uniform jacket, grabbed the bag with Dolores, and wrote down a not for you. On a sticky-note, he wrote,

_Going out._ _\- Five_

He placed the note on your door before heading out to the van and leaving to find the doctor from Meritech. It took him a bit but he found where the doctor lived. Standing in an alley where he could see the doctor's car he watched as the man put his dog in the backseat before getting in the front seat. When he is looking towards his seatbelt, Five jumps into the passenger seat. The doctor turns the other way and yells,

"Oh, Jesus!"

Grabbing the doctor's shirt with one hand Five places a knife to his throat with the other

"One chance. That's all you've got. One chance to tell me exactly what's going on in that lab." Five demands

"I... I manufacture prosthetic devices for fake patients. I bill the insurance companies and then sell them for cash on the black market." The doctor stutters out

"Including eyeballs?" Five questions

"Yeah, they're my biggest seller. I mean, they sell like hotcakes. I-I've got a list, a waiting list, probably 20 buyers." The doctor replies nervously

"So, the serial number I told you..." Five continues

"Uh, could've already been bought. Yes, off- off the books." The doctor answers

"I needed that list, Lance. Names and numbers and I need it now!" Five states pressing the knife against his throat harder

"I don't have it. I mean, not on me. The only copy's in my safe at the lab." The doctor says

"Well, you start the car, then. 'Cause, we're going on a field trip. Now." Five commands

The doctor starts the car and Five pulls back the knife from his throat but keeps it at the ready in case the doctor tries to pull something. They then both head off to the lab to get the names and numbers.

While Five was off threatening people for information you were just getting up. Getting out of his shirt that you used for pajamas you put on some typical clothes and head out of your room. When you open the door you see a sticky note on it. Pulling it off the door you read what it says,

_Going out. - Five_

"When I said leave me a note, I meant one where he tells me what he's doing." You mumble to yourself

You roll your eyes and turn to head down the hall. As you walk down the hall you see Diego approaching Five's room and you decide to follow. Peeking in the room you see Diego, Luther, and Pogo all there.

"What are you doing here?" You can hear Diego ask

"Uh... Do you know about Mom?" Luther replies

Luther then notices you peering around from behind the door. Diego looks back and sees you there and waves for you to come into the room. You go stand by Diego's side and he wraps one of his arms around your shoulders. He looks at you before looking back at Luther and saying,

"Well, It looks like you got what you wanted, one way or another, right?"

"Wanna tell me what you're doing here?" Luther asks

"Looking for Five." You and Diego respond simultaneously

"Let me guess Diego, you're gonna save the day." Luther comments, completely ignoring your presence

"It's what I do. Asshole." Diego replies turning around to leave before saying "C'mon kiddo let's go"

Diego is out of the room and you are just about to follow when Luther calls out,

"Really? Last I checked, you mopped floors."

You stopped in your tracks. Did he just say what you thought he said. Turning quick on your heel you approach Luther and look up at the tall behemoth of a man. You lock your eyes with him and look at him intensely.

"Don't you dare speak to my brother like that! He might mop floors but he's made something of himself and he tries his best to provide not only for himself but for me too." You start to rant

You don't notice it, but Diego sees Luther start to wince as if something is paining him.

"Diego is an individual, he has carved out his own identity. You can't really say the same for yourself though can you? From what I remember you just sat on the moon for four years, all alone, waiting for orders." You continue to shout

Luther grabs his head and holds it tightly. It feels like there's a force around him slowly crushing him. The crushing feeling spreads from around his head to his whole body. Everything is so tight and it's getting harder to breathe. It's as if he's being constricted by nothing there.

"You're approaching 30 and you keep on being a loyal soldier! What identity do you have outside of the umbrella academy? None!" You yell louder

Diego starts to feel a slight pressure as if it is pushing him forward towards Luther. He then looks at the objects in the room and sees them leaning in as well.

"Hey (Y/N), I'll be alright..." He concernedly says but you take no notice

"You have no clue what it is like out in the real world! You have no right to comment on what Diego does for a living because you have no real-world experience! All you know how to do is jump to conclusions and blame others for things!"

The bedroom window along with other glass items in the room starts to fracture and crack.

"NUMBER ZERO THAT IS ENOUGH!" Pogo shouts

You are immediately brought out of your rage-filled stupor. With a wide-eyed expression, you turn your attention to Pogo. Luther starts to take in deep breaths as the pressure he felt around him ceases.

"This is outrageous behavior Number Zero. You still haven't learned to control your powers when it comes to defending people you care about. Go to your room." Pogo commands

"But-" You start

"No buts, now go." He commands once more

You drop your head and look down at the ground. Slowly you turn around and walk out of the room back down the hall to yours. You close your door and sit down on your bed.

"Why did you call her that Pogo?" Luther asks back in Five's room

"Call her what?" Pogo questions back feigning confusion

"Why did you call her Number Zero?" Luther presses angrily

Pogo lets out a sigh and looks down before looking back up at Luther.

"Your Father gave you all numbers based on the usefulness of your powers. When she came to live with us and eventually start training with your father he gave her a number as well and that number was zero. She never responded to it, very adamant about your father calling her by her name, but in extreme circumstances when he yelled Number Zero it would bring her back to reality." Pogo responds

"But why zero?" Diego asks leaning on the frame of the door

"Because...zero comes before one." Pogo answers

Luther's jaw drops and a smirk appears on Diego's face.

"Well, it looks like Number One has not been dad's number one for a while now." Diego comments "I'm not even upset about being bumped down to third. Y'know what they say 3rd place is just happy to be there but 2nd place hates they're not first."

There's an awkward silence before Diego adds,

"Alright, well I'm going to go grab dad's favorite and we're going to go find Five."

Diego leaves the room and Luther is stuck in place still dealing with the disbelief that he might be Number One but he wasn't his dad's number one anymore.

"(Y/N) is very attached to certain people, such as Diego, and when she feels they are threatened she tends to go into a protective state where she doesn't really think and her powers overreact. I'm sure you can recall when she blew off a man's head to save Master Five at the bank all those years ago. Calling her by her number was the only way to pull her out of that protective mindset. I'm sorry you had to find out this way though, Master Luther." Pogo explains before leaving the room

Luther continues to stand in Five's room shocked while Diego heads down the hall and knocks on your door. When you open up your door Diego explains the situation going on to you. Quickly you put your shoes on and the two of you head downstairs. 

From behind you, you hear someone say,

"I'm coming with you guys." 

"You want to join us, Luther?" You question confused

"Not really, but we need to find Five." He states

"Alright, but we better get a move on." Diego comments "Do either of you have any leads on his whereabouts?"

"All I have is a sticky note that says he went out." You state still annoyed at the bluntness of it

"I have an idea where he might be. He takes this van out to use to go undercover. Find the van we can probably find Five." Luther says

"Well let's get a move on." Diego directs

Luther leads as the three of you walk to where the van might be. It doesn't take long to find the van but when you do you see that Five isn't there. The two boys try to investigate the van by opening it up. You watch as Diego uses one of his knives to pick the lock on the van. When they get the passenger door open both Diego and Luther try to enter at the same time. Backing up they stare each other down before both trying to enter again at the same time. Rolling your eyes you phase yourself through the back of the van and into it. Looking at him once more Luther says to Diego,

"I'm one."

Diego rolls his eyes and goes to pick the lock on the back sliding door.

"From what I recall you're technically two." Diego comments sliding the door open

When he opens the door he sees you sitting there in the back already.

"How did you get in here?" He asks

You give him a _"really?"_ type of look before he answers his own question and says,

"Ah yes, your powers."

Diego hops in the back with you as you all search for clues to his whereabouts. While Luther shuffles through papers in the front seat you and Diego look in the back of the van. Going through one of his bags Diego finds a book filled with notes. He whistles to Luther and holds up the book saying,

"I know where to find Five,"

Inside the book, there is a stamping that reads _"This book is property of the public library: Argyle Street Branch"_

The three of you exit the van and start heading towards the library. What you didn't know is that while you were heading that way Five was heading towards the building. Walking with the doctor, Lance, he sees smoke and firey blaze coming from the Meritech building. Shocked he quickly picks up his pace running in front of the burning building and looking at the scene before him. Before he can do anything else the building explodes sending Five flying back along with shards of glass and pieces of the building. He lays on the ground for a bit, the wind knocked out of him from the explosion. Soon enough though he sits up and looks at the destroyed building in front of him. His face drains of color as he realizes that his eyeball lead was gone once more. He needed to think of a new way to stop the apocalypse now. Quickly rushing to his van he grabbed Dolores and some bottles of whiskey that he had on him and quickly ran to where he did his best work back in the apocalypse, the Argyle Street Library. Somehow he arrived there before you, Diego and Luther did but at that point, he was already intoxicated from all the whiskey he drank along the way there. Grabbing some books off the shelf and markers from the front desk he made his way to some of the upstairs rotunda walls and started to write down equations on what to do. His might may have been a bit foggy but his calculations were clear. 

"You shouldn't be drinking," Imaginary you says to Five

"I'm fine, it helps calm me down when I do equations." Five retorts

He continued to drink as he worked becoming more and more under the influence as he went. 

"You're already drunk, this isn't good for you." You reply "Also FYI, you're defacing a public building."

"Listen (Y/N), just calm down, it's fine," He replies with a yawn " I just need to sit down for a bit,"

Sitting down against a wall he tries to continue to work but his eyelids start to feel heavy. Imaginary you sits down next to him and lets out an exasperated sigh. Wrapping an arm around the mannequin Five closes his eyes and falls asleep surrounded by his work.

You, Diego, and Luther made your way to the library after finding the book in the van but you hit some roadblocks along the way that made it difficult for you to get there as quickly as possible. When you finally arrived the sun was starting to set. When you enter the library Luther says,

"Let's split up."

"Wow. Good thinking." Diego replies sarcastically

The three of you split up to look around the library running into each other now and then. As you work your way around the third floor you see Luther and Diego on the top floor of the library talking to each other. When you make your way up there and get to the two of them you ask,

"Either of you find him?"

They shake their heads no before you all hear a woman exclaim,

"Where are his parents? I'm gonna call security."

"Wow, that was easy." Luther comments

The three of you head around the corner to where the voice came from and find Five sitting on the floor. Written on the walls around him were numbers and equations and scattered around the floor were books, markers, and an empty bottle of alcohol. He had his arm wrapped around the top half of a display mannequin with another empty bottle in his hand.

"Is he, um...?" Luther starts to question 

"Drunk as a skunk" Diego answers, a smirk on his face

"Absolutely schlammered," You say at the same time as Diego

You had never seen Five like this before. Granted, you hadn't seen him for years so of course, you would never have expected to see him sloshed out of his mind, but excessive drinking wasn't something you pictured him doing. Then again living in the apocalypse must've been difficult so you couldn't blame him if this is how he coped with stress. You see the mannequin there and wonder what in the world that is about but you had no clue what type of stuff he had been getting up to these past few days so you push it to the side. Carefully Luther scoops up both Five and the mannequin in his arms. It was kind of a funny sight seeing Luther carry a fully grown Five in his arms. Carrying him out of the library you make your way around the city and into a back alley.

"We can't go back to the house. It's not secure. Those psychopaths could come back at any moment." Luther says

"My place is closer. No one will look for him there." Diego replies

Diego was right, his place was closer. But that didn't make it close. You dreaded the trek to Diego's place. As you all continued to walk you grew fatigued and stopped for a moment. Diego and Luther turn towards you.

"You okay?" Diego asks

"I'm tired," you reply

"Alright, hop on," Diego says gesturing for you to climb on his back

You get on Diego's back so he can carry you and he and Luther continue on the journey. Resting your head on Diego's shoulder you start to fall asleep to the rhythmic pace of his walking. While you are tuckering out Five let out a drunken burp.

"If you vomit on me..." Luther starts

"You know what's funny? I've gone through puberty twice now. It's weird having hormones and feelings again," Five drunkenly says "And I...I drank that whole bottle, didn't I? I guess that's what you do when the world and people you love go bye-bye. Poof, it's gone."

"Two masked intruders attacked the Academy last night. They came looking for you. What do they want?" Luther question

"Oh, Hazel and Cha-Cha." Five mumbles

"Who?" Luther asks

"Ah, the best of the best. Except for me, of course." Five slurs out

"What do this Hazel and Cha-Cha want? We just wanna protect you." Diego states

"Protect me. Ha, I don't need your protection. Do you have any idea how many people I've killed? I'm the Four frickin' Horsemen. The apocalypse is coming." Five replies intensely looking Diego in the eyes

Five then knocks out again. Luther and Diego silently make their way to Diego's place. You passed out from exhaustion on Diego's back and Five passed out in Luther's arms from intoxication. When you all get back to Diego's place, Diego gently places you down on the far side of his bed. Luther then attempts to place Five down on the other side but Diego says,

"Nuh-uh, he's drunk enough he can go on the floor."

"Really? You're going to pull this protective older brother shtick even when they are both completely knocked out?" Luther remarks

Diego lets out of huff and rolls his eyes before stating,

"Fine."

Luther places Five on the other half of the bed before walking away and taking a look around Diego's room. On the wall are pictures of him and (Y/N) together.

"You have a lot of pictures of her." Luther comments

With his hands in his pockets, Diego walks over and stands next to Luther. With a smile on his face, he admires the photos.

"Well, she is my little sister after all. I like to remember all the things she's done." Diego explains to Luther

Pointing to some of the photos he says,

"That's was her first day of school when she arrived back in the future. I remember dropping her off that day. And that photo is from her first piano recital. That one is from her first boxing match and that's her sweet sixteen party."

Diego lists on and all where all the photos took place but he stops for a moment when he gets to one of the photos. It was the photo he took of you, him, and mom on your prom night. Wide smiles on all of your faces as you stood together as a family. It was sad to know that it was only a little over a week ago when that was taken. How the world had changed in such a short amount of time.

"You really care for her..." Luther comments

"Of course. When I left the academy, I left to become my own person and make my own decisions. But even though I made my own decisions, I didn't have a purpose for doing things. When (Y/N) came back, making sure she could be happy and safe became my purpose." Diego responds

"So you're fine with Five being back? Given his feelings and all?" Luther jokes

"Listen I might have my "no boys" protective brother tendencies but how can I be upset when he makes her happy? She might be a sister to me but she was always his best friend first. Whether they realize it or not they love each other and I hope we can stop this apocalypse so they can have a chance." Diego responds as he watches you two sleep.

Diego and Luther hear as footsteps approach the room. Preparing to fight Diego pulls out one of his knives and almost throws it when his boss walks in.

"You throw another one of those goddamn knives at me, I'm pressin' charges." His boss yells

"What do you want, Al?" Diego questions

"Some lady called for you, said she needs your help. Some, uh, detective. I think she said her name was, uh, Blotch or somethin'." Al replies

"Patch?" Diego says, a small smile on his face "She needs my help." 

"She needs you to meet her at that motel, a dump on Calhoun," Al adds before leaving

Diego looks towards Luther who looks back at him and says,

"Go. I'll wait here with them."

Diego rushes out of the room and off to the motel. Luther stands guard and watches you two for a bit but soon realizes he needs to go to the bathroom. Rushing out of the room he loudly closes the door. The sound of the door slamming woke both of you slightly. Five was still wasted from all of the alcohol he drank and your exhaustion was to the point where you could barely keep your eyes open. The two of you were faced toward each other. Five looks at you. Even though his intoxicated vision you still looked beautiful to him. Drunkenly he says,

"(Y/N)"

"Hm?" You manage to get out

With his ability to make rational decisions washed away by the black-out amount of alcohol in his system he says,

"I love you (Y/N)," he mumbles

Thinking that this was a dream you mumble back to him,

"I love you too Five." 

Your eyelids were heavy from such a long day but through those barely opened eyes, you saw Five lean in towards you. As best as you could you leaned into him as well until your lips collided. It was a sloppy first kiss as both of you almost missed each other's mouths. Ignoring the tired and drunken drool you both had, the kiss was soft and warm. This must've been a dream because you dreamt about it so many times before. Slowly, the two of you pull apart and press your foreheads against each others. Holding each other close you both quickly blackout for your own reasons. Tonight's ending was perfect but it's a shame neither of you would remember this night in the morning.


	19. Here Without You

The sounds of the world slipped into the boiler room and the once drunken Five opened his eyes. They were blurred for a second but when they came into focus he was surprised at what he saw. There you were face to face with him, his arms wrapped around you. He had no clue how the two of you got into this position but he didn't need to find out. He was just happy to have you so close. You always looked so peaceful when you slept. He started looking around at his surroundings but when he looked up he saw Luther standing over him. Startled he exclaimed,

"Jeez Luther, why don't you try to look a little more like a serial killer, huh?"

"Good, you're up. Are you sobered up enough, we need to talk." Luther says

"About what?" Five questions 

"Last night you mentioned the end of the world. When's it supposed to happen? This... apocalypse." Luther states sitting on a chair across from the bed  
  
"Oh, that." Five responds

Five lets go of you and slowly moves as to not wake you. Sitting up on the bed he looks at Luther. With his hands clasped Five looks down at the floor for a second before looking back to his brother and quietly explaining,

"I can't give you the exact hour, but from what I could gather, we have four days left."  
  
"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Luther questions  
  
"It wouldn't have mattered." Five dismisses

"Of course it would. We could've banded together and helped you try to stop this thing." Luther retorts  
  
"For the record, you already tried."  
  
"What do you mean?" Luther says taken aback  
  
"I found all of you. Your bodies." Five says bluntly

Five didn't want to talk about this. All the horror he had seen during his time in the apocalypse. It had haunted his mind since that day where he saw his family dead, but Luther had to know. There was no way Five could dance around the topic. Luther's eyes go wide as the worst thought pops into his mind. Leaning in, Luther quietly asks,  
  
"We die?"  
  
"Horribly." Five states "But at least you guys went quick, you were all gone by the time I arrived."

"What do you mean at least we went quick?"

Five looks back towards you still sleeping peacefully in the bed. Gently he starts to stroke your hair as he tries to explain,

"She was there too. You were all dead but I found her impaled on some rebar, barely clinging on to life."

"I thought she could phase through things?" Luther comments

"All our powers have limits, Luther." Five responds looking at him

Five closes his eyes and the images of your lifeless body pop in his mind. For years he had seen those images. They tortured him, sent him into a panic. They reminded him why he was doing what he was doing but he hated to remember that day. Five could feel his heart rate increasing just through the thought of it, his breathing becoming erratic as he felt the need to run away. He could feel tears come to his eyes but he refused to let them fall in front of his brother.

"Five, what is it?" Luther asked

"I watched her die, Luther. She took her last breath and then she was gone. I held her in my arms for so long. I thought maybe if I held on tight enough she would come back but she didn't." Five chokes out 

"Five, I'm sorry to hear that. I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

Five's blood boiled at those words. He knew Luther was trying to be sympathetic but he had no clue what Five had been through. Luther couldn't even begin to comprehend the miserable life Five was forced to live. Five's head whips towards his brother and he looks at him with an enraged fire in his eyes.

"No Luther, you don't!" Five snapped "You know nothing of loss. When you find the person you love most laying helpless, bleeding out, and barely clinging on to life maybe then you'll know. When a matter of seconds could mean the difference between life and death then you'll know. You know nothing of what I went through."

Five feels the bed shift and looks at you to see if he had woken you from his outburst. Luckily, you had just rolled over and were still asleep. He turns back to Luther, looks him directly in the eyes, and quietly says,

"I went through so many terrible days, so many terrible years and yet the day I watched her die is still the worst day of my life. I'm not going to let it happen again. I can't let it happen again."

"You want to stop the apocalypse for her, don't you?" Luther inquires

"Yes, wouldn't you do the same for Allison?" Five asks him

Without thinking, Luther nods his head. He would do anything for Allison so he knew where Five was coming from. 

"Anyway it's what she would do, It's what she did. She was with you guys trying to stop whoever it was that ends the world."  
  
"Wait, how do you know that we were stopping the person who causes this?"  
  
"This was clutched in your dead hand when I found you. Must've ripped it out of their head right before you went down." Five says handing pulling something out of his pocket and handing it to Luther

Luther examines the object he was just given. It's a glass eye.  
  
"Whose head?" Luther asks  
  
"Like I said, I don't know."

Examining the eye closer Luther sees a serial number on the back of the eye. This could be a lead as to who it belonged to.  
  
"Well, there's a serial number on the back. Think maybe you could try..." Luther starts to suggest but is cut off

"No, that's a dead end. It's just another hunk of glass." Five says with a scoff

The two of them sit there in silence for a second before the door swings open with a loud bang. The noise startles you and you jump as you are abruptly awoken from your sleep. You look at your surroundings and recognize that it's Diego's room at the boxing club but you don't remember how you got here. Looking to where the noise came from you look over and see Diego quickly making his way towards you and the other.

"Piece of shit. Do you have any idea what you just did?" He angrily yells

Before he can get any closer though Luther picks him up and holds him.  
  
"Nope, let me...Get your ape hands off of me!" Diego complains struggling to get out of Luther's hold

"I can do this as long as it takes you to calm down." Luther states  
  
"Fine." Diego relents

"Diego, what is going on?" You ask sitting yourself on the bed next to Five  
  
"Yeah, wanna tell us what you're talkin' about?" Luther questions

Luther stands in between Diego and where you and Five were. Looking Five directly in the eyes Diego explains,  
  
"Our brother's been pretty busy since he got back. He was in the middle of that shootout at Griddy's, and then at Gimble Brothers, after the guys in masks attacked the Academy, looking for him."

The anger and vile in Diego's voice was evident. You wondered what could have set him off so much. Five looks at Diego and replies bluntly,

"None of which is any of your concern."

"It is now. They just killed my friend." Diego states

"Diego, which friend?" You ask him

Diego looks at you and his eyes soften. You could see the emotion in his eyes and with his voice filled with grief he says,

"Eudora." 

"What? No." you say shocked

Another person who you cared about was gone. In the span of two days, you had lost two people who were important to you to these maniacs. You looked over at Five and then once more at Diego.

"Who are they, Five?" Luther asks  
  
"They work for my former employer. A woman called The Handler. She sent them to stop me. Then, soon as Diego's friend got in their way, well, fair game." Five replies bluntly  
  
"And now they're my fair game. And I'm gonna see to it they pay." Diego states to him  
  
"That would be a mistake, Diego. They've killed people far more dangerous than you." Five explains  
  
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Diego retorts

Diego starts to walk away from the group and towards the door. You had no time to think but you knew you had to do something. You couldn't lose any more people, you had already lost so much. Jumping up from the bed you call out,

"Diego, I'm coming with you." 

Five stands up and grabs your wrist.

"(Y/N), they're dangerous. You shouldn't go."

You look to him. His voice might've been steady when he spoke but the grip on your wrist and the look in his eyes said otherwise. He was practically pleading for you to stay. You wanted to, you really did, but in the span of two days, you had lost your mom and Eudora who was someone you admired. If Diego was going to try and fight these people you needed to go with him. Looking Five in the eyes you say,

"Five, I have lost so many people in my life. I lost mom, and now Eudora, who was a woman I looked up to. I'm not losing any more people and especially not my brother. I'm going with him."

Hesitantly Five lets go of your wrist and watches as you walk towards Diego and out the door. He wanted to keep fighting you on this and trying to stop you but he knew it was useless. You were always willing to put yourself at risk for the wellbeing of others that you cared about. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop you no matter how much he tried. Once the door closed he let out a sigh and sat back down on the bed.

"Five, what's this really about? And don't give me any of this _''It's none of your business''_ crap." Luther demands  
  
"Well, it's a long story..." 

Luther sits down in the chair he sat in before and listens as his brother details his life in the apocalypse and the day he was recruited by the commission.

"They turned me into the perfect instrument for rehabilitation of the time continuum. Or _corrections_ as they called them. I wasn't the only one. There are others like me. Beings out of time, fractured, extracted from the lives that they knew. I don't know how they got there." Five describes "But I do know that none of them were as good as me. They didn't realize it, but I was biding my time, trying to figure out the right equation so I could get back. If I could just get back, I knew I could stop the apocalypse. Save the world."

"So...you were a hitman?" Luther confirms  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I mean, you had a code, right? You didn't kill just anybody." Luther questions concerned  
  
"No code. We took out anyone who messed with the timeline." Five responds bluntly  
  
"What about innocent people?" Luther asks  
  
"It was the only way I could get back here." Five states  
  
"But that's murder." Luther remarks

"Jesus, Luther, grow up. We're not kids anymore. I mean you act like you didn't kill people during your time in the academy. We all did, hell even (Y/N) did at the bank on our first mission, none of us are innocent." Five retorts

"But we're the good guys..."

"There's no such thing as good guys or bad guys. There's just people, going about their lives. But when the world ends, all those people die, including our family." Five explains "Now I have an idea on how to figure out who causes the end of the world but I'll need to do some calculations."

"Maybe we head back to the house then. I don't think Diego will appreciate either of us being in his place for much longer." Luther comments

The two of them get up from their seats and start to walk towards the door of the boiler room but as they do Five notices a wall filled with pictures of (Y/N). He must've been too drunk last night to notice it. Five stops and looks at all the pictures of different events on the walls. He recognized some of them through the diary entries you wrote like your first day of school, your first boxing match, and your sweet sixteen. Looking at them all he wishes that he could've been there for those events. As his eyes dart around the picture filled wall he sees the picture of you from your prom night. Happily, you stood between Diego and Grace, a smile dancing across your face. He remembers reading the entry you wrote about that night and the detailed description you wrote of your dress and look. He always pictured how amazing it must've looked on you in his mind but seeing the picture of it he finally saw how truly beautiful you looked in it. To think that, that moment was only a week ago. Maybe if he had shown up earlier he could've seen you wear it in person. Remembering that Luther was still there with him Five comments,

"Diego really cares for (Y/N)."

"Yeah, from what I can tell he loves his sister more than anything in this life. He would choose her happiness over his anytime." Luther replies

"I mean (Y/N) is the best thing in our lives, I'm trying to do the same for her at this very time," Five says "Anyway we should head to the house. I've got some math to do."

Luther nods his head and the two of them finally head out and start making their way back to the house. While Luther and Five had stayed inside the room talking, you and Diego had stayed in his car doing the same. Diego, although he didn't show it back in his room, was extremely broken over the loss of Eudora. Diego and Eudora had dated a while back when you were younger but at some point, they split. Even if they weren't together anymore though they still had an immense amount of love and respect for each other. And it was because of that love that Diego was so affected by her death. A few tiny teardrops had fallen from his eyes as he tried to collect his emotions in the car. These past two days had been an emotional rollercoaster for the two of you. It was difficult to cope with so much loss and trauma at once but trauma had been a constant in both of your lives since you were young. You place a hand on your older brother's shoulder and said,

"We're going to get these fuckers and we're going to do it together."

Diego took a deep breath and looked at you. 

"You're fucking right we are." Diego replies nodding his head "I need to stop at the house to get some stuff though."

"Alright but do me a favor and drive around first and clear your head. You to make rational decisions and not emotional impulses no matter how much it hurts." You mention

Diego nods once more as he starts up his car. The two of you sit in silence as he drives around the city blocks for a bit. You look at all the people on the sidewalk. You wonder what their life is like, who they went home to at the end of the day, what it was like to be so blissfully ignorant to the potential danger in the next couple of days. You were envious of the people who still had all their loved ones in their lives. People who for the most part never had to deal with the abrupt loss of someone you loved. You were grateful for those you still had but just like Diego, you needed to clear your mind so you could stop the people who had taken from you from taking more lives. When you arrive at the house Diego heads upstairs and goes to the bedroom where he was hiding his stuff in while you head to your room. You look at Five's umbrella academy mask which you kept on your desk. You had never been one to do all this superhero stuff but apparently, life said otherwise. Going into your closet you pull out a box filled with knives. Granted, with your powers you didn't need knives like Diego did but it always helped to have some on you. You're about to gear yourself up when you hear a knock at your door. Turning around you see Five standing there.

"If you're here to talk me out of going, it's not going to work." You state

"No, no. I know even attempting that is a futile endeavor." Five replies walking over to you "Nice knives."

"Thanks, Diego always said guns were for sissies so for my 14th birthday or I guess technically my 25th birthday, he got me my own set of knives to train with." You explain

"Yeah, I'm still sorry about that," Five comments "But with Diego as your teacher I'm sure you're highly proficient with them."

"Well of course," You reply with a smile

As you're working on making sure you have all your knives to bring Five takes a step closer to you and grabs your hand. You stop what you're doing and look towards him. Five looks down at the floor before looking into your eyes. You can tell he wants to say something so you ask,

"Five what is it?"

"I know I can't stop you from going but I need you to know that I don't want you to. I know how these people are, how they were trained, they're dangerous beyond comprehension." He explains

"Five, these people have taken so much from me already, they're monsters."

"That's exactly why I don't want you to go. I worked with these people, they have no humanity."

"Five I can't just let Diego go in there alone. He acts out of emotion and he's not thinking clearly right now. I need to be there because I can't lose him nor anyone else these psychos might go after." You tell Five as you squeeze his hand a little tighter

"Just promise me that if the moment comes to do something, if you need to make a split-second decision, that you won't hesitate." Five states

"I promise."

"(Y/N), let's go!" You hear Diego yell from downstairs

"That's my cue," You say to Five

You let go of his hand and walk around him taking your case of knives with you. As you start to leave your room Five calls out,

"(Y/N), I-"

He pauses for a second before finishing,

"Be safe."

You nod your head and make your way downstairs and out to the car. When you arrive you see Klaus there with you as well. You had no clue why but it was better than leaving him to his own devices. Diego, Klaus and you drive away from the house and off to find these killers you were looking for. Five watched from a window as Diego's car left with you in it. He was mentally kicking himself in the ass for not just coming out and saying what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell you he loved you because god forbid something happens he didn't want to lose the opportunity to tell you. But he didn't. He got nervous and told you to be safe instead. Five was pissed at himself but he didn't want to think about it anymore. Heading to his room he grabbed a piece of chalk and starting doing his calculations on who might be the cause of the apocalypse. It took him a bit and pretty much all of his wall space but he started getting close to having a finished probability map.

"You look like a mad scientist," Imaginary you comments

"This is no time for jokes (Y/N), there are only four days left, and I need to figure out who's death could prevent the apocalypse." Five says continuing his math work "And you should be worried too."

"45 years together and yet you still don't get how I'm in your head." Imaginary you sarcastically says

Five ignored what imaginary you said and replies with,

"Oh. Okay, I think I've got something. It's tenuous, but promising."

"We've got company," Imaginary you tells Five as Luther walks in

Luther enters Five's room and looks around at the wall to wall writing covering every inch of space that was once there. He sees his brother standing on his bed continuing to write and asks

"What is all this?"  
  
"It's a probability map." Five replies bluntly  
  
"Probability of what?" Luther questions confused  
  
"Of whose death could save the world. I've narrowed it down to four." Five states  
  
"Are you saying one of these four people causes the apocalypse?"  
  
"No, I'm saying that their death might prevent it."  
  
"Oh...I'm not following." Luther replies confused  
  
"Time is fickle, Luther. The slightest alteration in events can lead to massively different outcomes in the time continuum. The butterfly effect. So all I have to do is find the people with the greatest probability of impacting the timeline, wherever they may be, and kill them."

Five steps off his bed and heads over to a chair with a notebook on it. Luther looks up at the four names written on the wall and asks Five,  
  
"Milton Greene. So who's he, a terrorist or something?"  
  
"I believe he is a gardener." Five replies writing notes down in the notebook he picked up  
  
"You can't be serious. This is madness, Five." Luther says turning his attention to Five "You...Wh... Where'd you get that?"

On Five's bed was a gun. Luther watched as Five unzipped its case, picked it up, and started to examine it. 

"In Dad's room. I think he used it to shoot a rhinoceros. It's similar to the model I used at work. Nice shoulder fit and highly reliable." Five explains   
  
"But you can't...This guy Milton is just an innocent man." Luther retorts  
  
"It's basic math. His death could potentially save the lives of billions. If I did nothing, he'd be dead in four days anyway. The apocalypse won't spare anyone." Five responds  
  
"We don't do this kind of thing." Luther complains  
  
" _We_ are not doing anything. I am."  
  
"I can't let you go and kill innocent people. No matter how many lives you'll save." Luther states

"Well, good luck stopping me." Five replies as he starts to walk out of the room  
  
"You're not going anywhere."

Luther then grabs Dolores and holds her by the neck outside the window.

"Hey, uh Five." Imaginary you calls

Five whips around and looks at the sight before him. Quickly lifting the gun he aims it straight at his brother. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt you, not even his brother.  
  
"Put... her... down." Five demands  
  
"Put the gun down. You're not killing anyone. I know she's important to you, so don't make me do this." Luther states "It's either her or the gun. You decide."

Five doesn't lower the gun and keeps it aimed at Luther. If he just held firm a little longer maybe Luther would realize that he is not playing around. Luther holds steady as well but when he sees that Five won't drop his gun, he does what he has to do. Letting go of the mannequin he lets Dolores start to fall over the railing.

"Five!" Imaginary you yells to him

Quickly, Five drops the gun, and spacial jumps over to the window. Catching you he brings you over to the bed and cradles you in his arms. Although all Luther saw was him gently looking at a mannequin, Five was really looking at you. Imaginary you, but you nonetheless. The thought of you getting hurt scared him beyond belief. It reminded him of his heightened concern for the real version of you out there in the world right now attempting to take on Hazel and Cha-Cha.  
  
"I can keep doin' this all day. I know you're still a good person, Five. Otherwise, you wouldn't have risked everything coming back here to save us all. But you're not on your own anymore."

"You sound like (Y/N), she told me practically the same thing before." Five remarks

"Well, she's a wise woman then. You should listen to her." Luther suggests before mumbling "...given recent events maybe we all should..."

"You found out dad called her number zero?" Five questions gently placing Dolores on her chair

"Yeah...wait how did you know about that?" Luther asks

"Before (Y/N) died she gave me her diary to read. She wrote about it in there." Five answers

Five pauses. There were so many moments he read about but missed out on. He wondered what they all could've been like if he was there. What would life in general be like if he had never left? Would any of this be happening if he hadn't run away? Five shakes the thoughts out of his head. He thinks of how he could possibly stop the apocalypse without having to kill people. There was one way but he was unsure of it. In a dismissive tone he says,

"Her diary isn't what's important though. There is one way to not have to kill random people to change the time continuum, but it's just about impossible."  
  
"More impossible than what brought you back here?" Luther questions

Luther had a point. Five had done the impossible, traveling through time, to try to stop the impossible, the apocalypse that wipes out the world. How crazy could this plan be?

"I've already set the plan in motion. It's just a matter of them responding properly." Five states

"Huh? What?" Luther inquires

"I have to grab something but I'll explain in the car. You're driving." Five says walking out of the room

Luther watches as Five leaves and looks around the room confused. He had no clue what was going on.

"Let's go, Luther!" Five calls

Luther makes his way out of the room and heads downstairs. Grabbing the car keys he heads outside and hops in the driver's side of the car, and he sits and waits for Five. After a few minutes Five hops in the car with a briefcase. With a shut of the passenger side door, the two of them are off.

_________________________

After leaving the house you had dropped off Klaus at a veteran's club. You were confused by why he went there but it was a good thing you stayed because without your intervention he would've gotten beat to a pulp by those veterans there. Diego and you dragged him out of there as tears spilled from his eyes. You didn't know what had happened and why he was so troubled but soon enough you found out. While Diego was attempting to stop Klaus from continuing to put drugs in his body Klaus admitted that he had lost someone he loved more than himself and that he wanted to forget the pain of it all. The three of you sat in silence. Each one of you had lost someone you loved more than life. You all knew the pain, the gut-wrenching, soul-crushing pain of losing someone who was the world to you. No words were spoken, but you all acknowledged the shared trauma in the car. The moment the three of you shared though had ended when you started to follow the people who had attacked the house. You followed them back to the motel they were staying at. You mentally tried to prepare yourself for anything you might have to do. You made a promise to Five after all. Parked outside Diego and you surveyed the area. When you saw the bright blue car they were driving in the parking lot the two of you made your way over to it. Taking one of your knives out of the case you kept watch as Diego laid next to the car. Looking underneath it he placed a tracking chip on the underside before getting up and turning on the tracking device. The two of you then made your way back to the car and sat inside trying your best not to look suspicious. As you watch from the cr you see as two people peek through window curtains. That was the room they were staying in and you two were going to get them.

"Bingo." Diego calls out  
  
"You do know that killing these people is not gonna make you feel any better." Klaus comments taking another swig of the vodka bottle you had bought him

He made a good point. An eye for an eye only went so far. Sure you would feel a sense of justice getting back at the perpetrators but it would never heal the emotional would you felt because of the loss. Diego would never listen to that though, he was too stubborn and his hero complex was too large for him to think that way. You were honestly surprised that Klaus had said something so coherent and profound.  
  
"Yeah, but when it's done I'm gonna sleep like a baby." Diego responds to Klaus  
  
"Sure you will." Klaus remarked sarcastically

You agreed with Klaus once again but you kept your mouth shut. This was not the time to get into a dispute with your brother. As you continued to keep watch you saw as the male partner of the killer duo stepped outside his room with a motel ice bucket. You found it odd the way he paused before walking away but kept watching.

"Stay in the car Klaus," Diego commanded

"What are you talkin' about? This guy tortured me." Klaus exclaims "And why does she get to go she's just a kid!"

"I'm 18!" You exclaims back

"That's child years." Klaus retorts

"She gets to come along because she is my sister and killing these assholes is a family matter." Diego explains opening his door and stepping out of the car "(Y/N), let's go I have a plan."

"Family matter? I'm your brother!" Klaus yells

You step out of the car and follow Diego as you make your way to the steps of the motel leading up to their room. As you two quietly head up the stairs you hear the loud footsteps of a drunken fool behind you.

"So, what exactly is the plan here, big guy?" Klaus asks  
  
"I told you to wait in the car." Diego snaps at him  
  
"Yeah, but you also told me that licking a nine-volt battery would give me pubes." Klaus responds taking another drink of vodka

You turn to Klaus and give him a look of disgust and confusion.  
  
"We were eight." Diego responds turning to look at him

You then turn to Diego and give him the same look of disgust an confusion. Jeez, these kids were messed up even before you knew them. It was in times like these that you wondered if you could've followed your parents' third rule better. Klaus then tries to walk up the stairs and towards the motel room door but before he can Diego puts an arm out blocking him. He then takes Klaus by the shoulder and escorts him to the bottom of the stairs. You follow behind Diego to act as a second barrier if Klaus tries to head up them again. Diego looks at Klaus and explains to him,  
  
"For once, I need you to listen to me, okay? Now, go back to the car. If we don't come out in two minutes, that means we're probably dead. So if that happens, go get help. Okay?"

Klaus glances at you and you nod to him. Letting out a sigh Klaus replies,  
  
"Yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay."  
  
Diego makes sure that Klaus walks away back to the car before heading up the stairs. 

"Get behind me (Y/N)." Diego commands as the two of you approach the door

You do as your told and watch as your brother kicks the door sending it flying open. You probably could've just went in there invisibly and scoped out the place or opened the door but Diego had his own ways of doing things. And if this was hope he was going to grieve then you might as well let him have it. Diego slowly stepped in first and looked around. Pulling out a knife you were about to enter the room when you heard the sound of an engine revving.

"Hey Diego, do you hear that?" You ask

Diego steps outside and walks over to the balcony where he hears tires screeching. The two of you stand there and see as the masked attackers quickly drive around the corner and start shooting their guns off at you two. You step back and use your power to make sure any bullets would go through you but Diego didn't step back quick enough and ended up having a bullet graze his left arm. With the help of Klaus pulling him back into the stairwell, Diego did not get hit by any more shots.

"Oh, man. See? You used to think I was an idiot." Klaus says with a smile  
  
"I still think you're an idiot." Diego replies

"They're getting away." You comment running down the stairs

The two of them follow behind you and when you make it back down to the parking lot you all watch as the car drives away.

"Shit. Get in the car." Diego says before noticing that all the tires are slashed

Klaus kicks one of the slashed tires before leaning on the ice cream truck in front of Diego's car.

"Was this all part of your master plan?" Klaus comments

"Shut up." Diego retorts

"We need to go after them!" You exclaim

"And how are we going to do that?" Klaus asks

"We're gonna hotwire that ice cream truck and use Diego's tracker." You state

Diego grabs your shoulders and looks you in the eyes.

"You are a little genius, I am so proud of you." Diego praises

Within a few minutes, you had got the thing hot wired. You helped Diego in since he had a bad arm and Klaus climbed in after you. With Diego working the tracker and Klaus driving the truck the three of you started to make your way and speed after the masked criminals. Although you weren't fully sure if it was three in the van.

Ever since Klaus had started showing up around you so had a constant disturbance. You had trained to see and feel molecular disturbances but this one was odd. Typically a molecular disturbance took the shape of the object it accompanied like if someone dropped a vase the disturbance of the vase falling also took the shape of a vase. But this one was vaguely humanoid. It was also odd in the sense that you had a constant feeling of it. A flying bullet felt like someone had flicked you because it was quick and once the bullet stopped so did the disturbance. But this felt like a constant pressure, like someone had poked your arm but had not removed their finger yet. And the closer you were to the disturbance the stronger it felt. You had an idea in your mind of what it was but you also felt insane thinking that idea as it was out of the realm of rationality. So all you did was stare at the disturbance sitting on the truck dashboard in front of you. To the other two it just looked like you were squinting your eyes looking out the front window, but you knew what you were doing.

What you didn't know was that your crazy idea was right, and the vague molecular disturbance in front of you was Ben, Ben the ghost. Now you couldn't detect ghosts and you definitely couldn't see them as freely as Klaus could, but Ben was different. Klaus constantly kept Ben conjured and therefore by using his powers, Ben had a stronger physical presence. This is what led to you being about to feel his presence as view his molecular disturbance.

"Klaus, she's staring at me." Ben says

Klaus takes a look back at you squinting your eyes.

"She's just looking out the window buddy. I'm the only one who can see you." Klaus responds

Ben looks back over at you and sees you pointing in his direction with a confused look on your face.

"Klaus she's pointing at me. I think she can see me." Ben comments

"We both know that's not possible because I'm the only fancy pants ghost man here." Klaus explains "Now stop staring and bothering me I'm driving!"

Given the fact that you were the only one in the van staring and you had written off the existence of the disturbance being Ben, you thought Klaus was addressing you telling you not to stare. 

"Oh, sorry." You quietly apologize

Instead of looking at the disturbance anymore you try to distract yourself as the ice cream truck chase continues.

_________________________

Luther and Five slowly pull up to the meeting spot that Five had set up. The car comes to a stop and the two brothers look out at the road in front of them. There is a silence in the car before Five speaks,

"You know, I never enjoyed it."  
  
"What?" Luther questions  
  
"The killing. I mean, I was...I was good at my work, and I took pride in it. But it never gave me pleasure." Five explains "I think it was all those years alone. Solitude can do funny things to the mind."

Luther sympathizes with Five. He knew what it was like to be alone as well and the toll it takes.  
  
"Yeah, well, you were gone for such a long time. I only spent four years on the moon,  
but that was more than enough. It's the being alone that breaks you." Luther states before looking at the briefcase and saying "You think they'll buy it?"

Five looks at the fake case that they had brought.

"Well, what I do know is that they're desperate. It's like a cop losing his gun. If the Commission finds out, they'll be in deep shit." Five replies "Oh, not to mention the fact that they'll be stuck here until they get it back."  
  
"Well, I should hold onto it. In case they make a move on you." Luther suggests  
  


"Okay, Luther, but be careful. I mean, I've...I've lived a long life, but you're still a young man. You got a whole life ahead of you. Don't waste it." Five responds

"Thank you for the sentiment but you're a young man again, and if I were you I'd try to make sure that I could keep these renewed years so I can spend them with the person that matters most." Luther remarks

"Luther what are you getting at?" Five inquires

"Five, you can't hide a known fact. Everyone knows you love (Y/N), you admitted it when we were younger and it's obvious you still do now. Take your own advice you're still a young man and you've got a whole life ahead of you. Don't waste it."

Five nods his head. Luther did have a point. He didn't mean to come back as an 18-year-old but doing so gave him a renewed chance at life with you that he might not have gotten if he had gotten the calculations correct. He loved you before he jumped time, he loved you when he was stuck alone in the apocalypse and even if he couldn't work up the courage to say it to you, he loved you now. Maybe if he managed to stop the apocalypse he really could take a bit of his own advice. Before Five could respond to Luther a car pulls up from down the road.  
  
"Here we go." Five states

He and Luther get out of the car and stand in the road. They watch as the car drives by for a bit before slowing and parking. Five looks over to Luther and says,

"I hope it doesn't but if this all goes sideways, do me a favor and tell (Y/N) I'm sorry."

Five then makes his way to the midpoint between the two cars while Luther stays behind with the briefcase. As he approaches Hazel and Cha-Cha he asks,  
  
"The masks really necessary?"  
  
"So where is it, kid?" Cha-Cha asks back throwing her mask to the side

"Wow, that's how you're gonna start. You know, we can get right back in our car and call it a day." Five states taking a step back  
  
"You won't even make it halfway there." Cha-Cha replies pulling out a gun and pointing it at him  
  
"Maybe. But as I'm sure you found out in your previous foray, my brother is not your average giant." Five explains

"He's right. You dropped a chandelier on him, got right back up." Hazel comments

"By the time you took him out, he'd smash your precious briefcase to a pulp." Five elaborates  
  
"Probably us too, right? So, how do we help each other?" Hazel asks  
  
"I need you to get in contact with your superior so I can have a chat with her. Face-to-face." Five demands

"About what?" Cha-Cha inquires  
  
"Well, I don't believe that's any of your concern." Five states  
  
"Just don't tell her about the briefcase." Cha-Cha says  
  
"Fair enough." Five replies

Hazel and Cha-Cha walk over to the payphone on the side of the road while Five walks back over to Luther.  
  
"What happens now?" Luther asks  
  
"Now we wait." Five states

From behind them, Five and Luther hear the sound of music playing. Turning to look they see an ice cream truck appear over the horizon. Hazel and Cha-Cha look at the truck coming their way before looking at each other.  
  
"Is that her?" Luther asks to Five

The world slows down as the truck starts to pass the two of them. From inside they can see Diego, Klaus, and you. Klaus waves from the driver's seat as he passes by but when you see Five you transport yourself out the back of the van and onto the road. When you had transported yourself onto the road though you forgot to take the velocity of the truck into account and so you had accidentally thrown yourself onto the road.  
  
"Go faster!" Diego tells Klaus from inside the truck

"Whee!" Ben exclaims as the truck goes faster  
  
"It's a setup!" Cha-Cha yells from down the road as she pulls out her gun and starts shooting.

Luther jumps in front of Five as some of the gunfire heads their way. You get up off the ground and start to try and run over to Five reaching your arm towards him. Hazel and Cha-Cha start to go flying off the ground as they get hit by the corner of the ice cream truck. But all of that slows down and then comes to a stop as the world around freezes. Five takes a look out from behind Luther and then steps forward into the road. He looks around for a bit but then hears a voice behind him say,  
  
"Neat trick, isn't it?" 

Turning around he sees the handler standing there.

"Hello, Five. You look good, all things considered." She says

"It's good to see you again." He replies

"Feels like we met just yesterday. Course, you were a little bit older then. Congratulations on the age regression, by the way. Very clever. Threw us all off the scent." She states

"Ah, well, I wish I could take credit. I just miscalculated the time dilation projections, and...Well, you know. Here I am." Five responds gesturing to his 18-year-old form

"You realize your efforts are futile. So why don't you tell me what you really want?" The Handler asks  
  
"I want you to put a stop to it." Five demands  
  
"You realize what you're asking for is next to impossible, even for me. What's meant to be is meant to be. That's our raison d'être."

Five moves his jacket to the side and pulls a handgun from his waistband. Pointing it at the handler he comments,  
  
"Yeah? Well, how about survival as a raison?"  
  
"I'll just be replaced. I'm but a small cog in a machine. This fantasy you've been nurturing about summoning up your family to stop the apocalypse is just that. A fantasy." The handler explains

She approaches Five but he keeps the gun steady on her.

"I must say, though, we're all quite impressed with your initiative, your stick-to-itiveness, really quite something. Which is why we want to offer you a new position back at the Commission, in management."  
  
"Sorry, what's that now?" Five asks surprised  
  
"Come back to work for us again. You know it's where you belong." The handler says 

"Well, it didn't work out too well the last time." Five points out  
  
"But you wouldn't be in the correction division any longer. I'm talking about the home office. You'd have the best health and pension, and an end to this ceaseless travel." The handler explains "You're a distinguished professional in schoolboy shorts. We have the technology to reverse the process. I mean, you...you can't be happy like this."

The handler slowly lowers Five's gun with her hand. Five looks over to where you are frozen and then back at the handler.  
  
"I'm not looking for happy." He responds

He was lying but the handler had no right to know what he wanted. She glances over at your frozen figure and then turns her attention back to Five.  
  
"We're all looking for happy." She says caressing his cheek "We can make that happen. We can make you, yourself again.

"And what about my family?" Five asks  
  
"What about them?" The handler questions  
  
"I want them to survive." Five states

The handler looks around at all the people there before turning back to Five and inquiring,  
  
"All of them?"   
  
"Yes, all of them." Five demands

"Including that pretty little thing in the road over there? I can tell you have a sweet spot for her." The handler says with a wink

"Yes. Her especially." 

"Well...I'll see what I can do." The handler states extending her hand "Do we have a deal?"

"One thing."

Five then walks away from the handler and over towards Hazel and Cha-Cha he grabs the gun that was on the road and pulls the clip of bullets out of the gun. He throws them in opposite directions so they are on different sides of the road before walking over towards where Luther and you stood. As he walks he passes a bullet frozen in midair and re-adjusts it so that when time starts it will not hit anyone. He then walks over to the car he arrived in and pulls out a pen and a piece of paper. He quickly writes something down on it, places it in your hand, and balls your hand up tightly so you don't lose it. He takes one more look at you before walking over to the handler. She sticks her hand out and in a flash the two of them disappear and time starts up again as normal. The midair bullet flies by Luther without hitting him, Hazel and Cha-Cha fall to the ground and the ice cream truck crashes into the blue car. Looking around you look for Five but he had disappeared.

"Five? Five!" You call out into the air

Luther holds up a briefcase in his hand before shouting,  
  
"Come get it!"

He then throws the case away from him and into the dirt on the side of the road. One of the agents in suits goes and runs after it while the other looks for their gun. Luther runs over to the ice cream truck and helps Klaus to carry the injured Diego towards their car. 

"Get in the car!" Luther shouts to you

Quickly you make your way into the backseat with Diego and Klaus following after. Luther immediately gets in the driver's seat and starts to rev the engine.  
  
"Luther, go, go, go!" Klaus shouts  
  
The tires on the car squeal as the four of you speed off and away from the two agents. As Luther drives you relax and unclench your body. When you open your hands a folded piece of paper falls out of one of them. Opening it up you read a note.

 _Que mon cœur reste avec toi jusqu'à mon retour, ma chérie_.

_\- Five_


	20. I Love You, Eudora - "Here Without You" Side Story

**12/25/2013**

Given the fact that Reginald Hargreeves was not one for Christmas celebrations nor celebrations in general, Diego took it upon himself to make sure you had a good holiday. But more importantly, he wanted to introduce you to a very special person in his life. He hadn't gone back to the academy in years but today he would do it. Knocking on the front door he waits for someone to open it. When the door opens he sees Grace standing there.

"Hi, mom," Diego says

"Diego! Merry Christmas I am so surprised you're here!" Grace exclaims "Do you want to come inside?"

"Sure, but only briefly. I'm sure you understand why" Diego states 

"Of course," Grace replies as she gestures him into the foyer

"What brings you back home, Diego?" Grace asks

"I was wondering if I could take (Y/N) out for the day." Diego answers

"Oh, that would be lovely," Grace explains "She was so excited to tell me how she saw you at the boxing club yesterday so I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to spend the holiday with you. Let me go get her, although I think you'd like to come and see her room."

Diego didn't really want to go much farther into the house in fear he might run into his father but he couldn't say no to his mom. Hesitantly, he nods his head and the two of them make their way up to where the bedrooms are. When they get into the hall of their bedroom Grace brings him over to his old bedroom door. 

"Mom, what are we doing at my room?" Diego asks

Grace ignores his question and knocks on the door.

"(Y/N), you have a visitor." Grace calls out

A few seconds after the door swings open and there was (Y/N). Diego watches as your eyes light up. Throwing your arms around him you give him a big hug.

"Hi Eggo!" you exclaim

Diego wraps his arms back around you.

"Hey there kiddo," He says "I didn't know you decided to live in my room."

"Yeah, out of all the choices I felt it was best." You respond 

Diego feels a sense of pride that out of all the rooms to move into you chose his. He enters the room and takes a look around. You added a lot of your stuff to it but there were some elements you kept. It was nice that you left some things the same, it made it more so of a collaboration between his time here and your time rather than you just replacing it all.

"You made a great choice then. Now, I was wondering if you'd want to spend Christmas with me?" Diego asks

"Yeah! Let me grab my coat!" You exclaim

Happily, you run over to your closet and grab a coat to wear. Once you have it on, you head back to your door and say,

"I'm ready!"

You, Diego, and Grace all make your way back downstairs to the foyer. Diego gives Grace a hug before opening the front door and exiting the house. You follow after and as the two of you walk out of the house gates Grace calls,

"Have her home no later than 10 pm,"

"I will, Mom." Diego responds

You then open the passenger side door and start to get into the car. Diego gets in the driver's side and as he pulls away you wave goodbye to Grace. Diego and you drive for a bit taking in the snowy sights and listening to holiday music but soon enough the car pulls up at a nice little house. The two of you step out of the car and make your way up to the door of the home. Diego gives it a knock and within a few seconds the door swings open. Standing there is a young woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes. 

"(Y/N) this is my girlfriend Eudora, Eudora this is my little sister (Y/N)," Diego says

"Hi." You say quietly

"Hi (Y/N), Diego has been telling me all about you," Eudora comments with a smile "Why don't you both come in?"

You and Diego step into the house. As you look around the living room you see Christmas decorations everywhere. It was like a winter wonderland. 

"I was just in the middle of making some cookies, would you like to help (Y/N)?" Eudora asks

"Sure!" You replied excitedly as you follow behind her

Diego watches with a smile as his two favorite girls start to spend time together. He hopes this is the start of something great.

**6/12/15**

Today was your last day of school for the year and to you that meant the freedom of summer. When the final school bell rang you and your friends ran outside the school building doors excited for the couple of months of freedom that you all would receive. When got outside the school you saw Diego leaning up against the passenger side window of his car in the parking lot. Walking up to him you greeted your older brother with a hug.

"How was your last day?" He asked

"It was good. We didn't do much except mess around in classes" You answer

"Well, I have a surprise for you." Diego says

"What?" You ask pulling away from the hug

"Close your eyes and get in the backseat" He instructs

You do as you're told and when you're sitting with your eyes closed in the backseat Diego says,

"Alright you can open them"

When you open your eyes you see Eudora sitting in the passenger seat of the car. He was leaning against the passenger window to hide her. This was such a surprise!

"Hi, Eudora!" You said excitedly

"Hi (Y/N)!" She replies

Diego closes the backseat door and then heads to get into the driver's seat. Once he does he pulls out of the lot of your school. You were happy to not have to see it for the next few months. The three of you drive around the city for a bit before heading over to the local park. When you arrive you all get out of the car and without you even asking Diego says,

"Hop on."

You would take not walking over walking any day so you happily climb on Diego's back so he can piggyback you. The three of you then start to travel about the park. As you pass a group of old ladies on a bench one of them calls out,

"Cute family you have!"

All of you smiled at her as you continued on your merry way. After a while, you spotted an ice cream cart up ahead on the path. Your eyes light up at the thought of a nice cold treat for a warm summer's day. Eudora sees the excitement on your face and pulls five dollars out of her wallet. She stops walking which prompts Diego to stop as well. She then holds the five-dollar bill up and says,

"How about you get yourself something from the ice cream stand for doing so well this school year?"

Your eyes lit up and you quickly hopped down from Diego's back. You wrapped your arms around Eudora's waist and exclaimed,

"I love you, Eudora! Thank you!" 

Taking the money from her you then ran off to go get your ice cream. When you were far enough away Diego turned to her and said,

"And I love you as well Eudora."

He then gave her a gentle kiss and thought about how he loved this woman more than life itself. When the two finally parted he took her hand in his so they could follow you. What a nice first day of summer.

**9/4/17**

Today was Eudora Patch's first day as a detective. She had worked for years to get to where she is and finally she had earned the position she had dreamed of getting. What she didn't dream of was having to go deal with a hostage situation on her first day as a detective. The Capital West Bank was under siege by a group of robbers and they had taken the patrons hostage. She was working a case at a local jewelry store when she got a call from the chief of police asking her to come help interview witnesses outside the situation to see if they had any information on what may be going on inside. When she arrived at the bank she was ready to start doing interviews but was surprised to see that the hostages were actually running out of the bank and getting themselves to safety behind the police barrier. As she made her way closer towards the front of the police barrier there was a face in the crowd of hostages that she recognized.

"(Y/N)!"

When you heard your name called out and you saw Eudora you immediately went over to her.

"Oh my god, (Y/N) are you okay?" She asked concerned

"Yeah, I'm fine." You replied

"You're all covered in blood." Eudora comments worried "Are you injured?"

"I'm good. There's no need to worry, it's not my blood," you reply nonchalantly

"Alright, I'm going to call Diego." She states "Come with me,"

You follow Eudora to her car but comment to her,

"Knowing him, he'll be here any minute."

Before she can even open the door to her car Diego pulls up in his and runs over to where Eudora is. He doesn't notice you and says to Eudora,

"I came as quick as I could." 

"Good thing. I was just about to call you to come take care of her." Eudora replies gesturing to you

Diego then notices you covered in blood.

"Holy shit, what happened in there?" He questions

"I don't want to talk about it." You answer

"Alright, well I can't force it out of you." He replies "How about I take you back home?"

You nod your head and Diego escorts you to his car giving Eudora a quick goodbye. Once the situation at the bank has calmed down Eudora finally gets her chance to investigate as a detective. When she walks into the bank she sees a bunch of robbers scattered across the bank, dead. Then she catches a sight that confuses her immensely. Slowly she walks over to the part of the bank just below the top floor balcony. What she sees is a man impaled on the flagpole.

"What in the world happened in here?" she asks herself

Shouting out to the police officers on the scene she asks,

"Can someone get me the security camera footage of what happened in here?"

"No can do detective." Someone responds from behind her

It's her partner Chuck.

"What do you mean?" She asks

"I went to the security room and the footage shows when the robbery and hostage situation began and also the aftermath that we're seeing here but there's no in-between. The footage of what happened to cause this scene is missing." Chuck explains "This isn't an odd occurrence though. The branch manager says that they've been having camera issues lately and all the cameras will just stop recording for some time. Just a misfortune that it happened during the footage we needed."

"Yeah, that's a shame," Eudora replies 

She takes a look around at the scene once more. What a confusing case this was going to be.

**2/17/19**

It wasn't very often that you got to see Eudora anymore. After she was promoted to being a detective her schedule became immensely busier than when she was just a regular officer trying to work her way up. It was on days like these that you appreciated being able to go out with her for lunch. It was especially nice that Diego was able to come along as well. You knew that Diego still loved Eudora even after them being split for a while and deep down she still probably loved him back but their life paths were just not heading in the same direction. It was nice that they still had a mutual respect for each other and were able to continue to spend time around each other even if they weren't together. The three of you were headed to a small deli in the downtown area by the police station. You didn't realize it but you were excitedly skipping your way there while Diego and Eudora watched from afar. Smiles across both of their faces as they saw how happy you were to be with them. When you got to the deli you all ordered your sandwiches before sitting down at a table near the front windows. As the three of you started to munch on your food Eudora turns to you and asks,

"So you all finished with your college applications?"

"Yup I got the last one sent out like a week and a half ago." You reply

"When do you start hearing back from them?" She questions

"Most of them I'll hear back from in early to mid-April. Only a few said they'll get back by late March." You answer

"Well, I'm sure you'll get into all of them." Eudora encourages

"Of course she will! She's a little genius!" Diego comments "And if they don't let her in, they'll have to deal with me."

"Oh Diego, stop that." Eudora jokes giving his arms a shove

"If I'm being honest, it would be surprising that they didn't let me in given the fact I got a letter of recommendation from Mr. Hargreeves." You remark "I can't name one other person who would have that."

"What!? Dad gave you a letter of _recommendation_? He recommended you?" Diego asks confused and surprised

"I'm just as surprised as you are." You reply "One day at dinner he asked me which colleges I applied to and a few weeks later Pogo informed me that he sent letters on my behalf to the admissions offices."

"What did he write?" Eudora asks

"I don't know. You're not allowed to read the recommendation letters people write of you." You explain 

"That's unfortunate. For a man who always calls you an insolent brat I want to see what _''nice''_ things he has to say." Diego comments

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were anti-recommendations." You joke

"I'm sure that's not the case. You are an intelligent, powerful, and charismatic person. He has to have at least something good to say." Eudora adds

"Oh! My prom is in a month, are you guys coming over to the house to take pictures with me?" You ask

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it even if the world was ending." Diego answers

"Unfortunately, I can't make it. I just don't have the freedom to take time off like I used to." Eudora says

Your happy face drops into a sad one.

"Aw don't worry, I'm off for your graduation in June. I'm making it to that one no matter what, I promise." Eudora adds

Your smile comes back. Happily, you take a bite out of your sandwich and enjoy your time with your two favorite adults because you knew that Eudora was one to keep her word and nothing in this world was going to stop her from making it to your graduation.


	21. The Day That Wasn't

As Luther drove back to the academy with the rest of the Hargreeves boys in tow you couldn't help but read the note you had found over and over again. The words themself were sweet but they hurt your heart. You were tired of Five coming back and leaving and coming back and leaving. You knew he was doing stuff to stop the apocalypse but it angered you how he could walk out so easily, like you and his siblings were just strangers passing by in his life. But more so it worried you that he wouldn't come back again. He's had people on his tail since the first day he came back, you yourself witnessed that at Griddy's, and it worried you that on one of the times he left that might be the last you saw of him. You just wished that he would tell you everything and include you in what he was doing like he used to. He still viewed you as his best friend and he told you the apocalypse was going to happen so what reason did he have in not letting you tag along to help him stop this mess? You felt like a fool for thinking things would go back to the way they were before he had run away through time and didn't know whether to cry or scream from the frustration you felt at him. You hated that you felt this way but you knew why you did. You love him, and all you could ever want is to be by his side. You balled up the note and held it tight in your hand. You didn't want to talk to anyone about your frustration, you just wanted to be alone. When you all returned to the house you quickly rushed upstairs to your room and isolated yourself. Instead of dealing with the negative feelings, you were experiencing though you decided to ignore them and go to sleep.

The next morning when you awoke you didn't really feel any better. Honestly, your feeling of hurt only increased as you walked about the house because Five wasn't back. Typically, he was gone for the day but he was back by the night, but he wasn't back yet. You were worried about him and also angry that he didn't feel the need to bring you wherever he went. Walking into the parlor you see Luther, Allison, Diego, and Klaus sitting in the area around the bar. Diego sees you enter the parlor and says,

"Hey kiddo, good morning."

"Morning, how's your arm doing?" You ask

"Good. You know me, I'll be fine." He replies

The other three look towards you as you walk over and sit down next to Diego on the couch. Sitting yourself down you say,

"Morning everyone. What chaos are we planning on getting into today?"

"The world is ending in three days," Luther replies bluntly

"Ah. That chaos," you respond

"Three days?" Allison questions handing out coffee's to the rest of her siblings

"That's what Five said." Luther answers

"The old bastard did mention the apocalypse, come to think of it. He just left out the part about how soon." Klaus says sitting on the floor

"But can we trust him? I don't know if you've noticed, but Five's a little..." She states while making the crazy signal with her hand

"Our little psycho," Klaus adds

"He was pretty convincing. If he wasn't trying to stop an apocalypse, those lunatics wouldn't be chasing him." Luther elaborates

"That's why they were after him?" Diego questions

"Yeah. They've been after him since the night he got back," You add

"What did Five even see?" Allison asks

Luther pauses for a second as he looks at all of you and all of you look back to listen to him.

"Uh... Apparently, we all fought together against whoever was responsible... " Luther trails off

He stops. Everyone looks at him confused. There was obviously something missing from what he was explaining but instead of clarifying he gets up from his seat at the bar and starts saying,

"Okay. So, here's the plan. Uh, we go through Dad's research-"

Knowing something was missing everyone yells at Luther to stop.

"Wait, what?" Allison says

"Hold on, hold on." Diego chimes

"Wait a tick, wait a tick, wait a tick. What actually happened the first time around?" Klaus asks

"Yeah. What are you not telling us?" You question

"Come on, big boy, spit it out." Diego commands

Luther looks at all of you in silence as you stare back at him

"We died," Luther mumbles before taking a drink of his coffee

Nobody could hear what he had said though so Allison asks,

"What was that?"

"I said, uh, we died," Luther responds louder

You all look at him shocked with wide eyes. Did he just say what you thought her just said? Did he say that you all died? Luther makes his way back over to the bar leans up against it. The rest of you quickly get up and head over to the bar and form a discussion circle. You and Diego head around the back of it while the others stay in front.

"We need to figure this out." Diego demands

"Is it just us?" Allison asks Luther

"It's everybody." Luther states

"In the house?" Diego questions

"No, outside the house. Everyone died." Luther responds

"Like the whole planet?" Allison presses

While the siblings are arguing you see Vanya and her weird new boyfriend that you heard about show up. This isn't going to be good.

"Hey. What's going on?" Vanya says

The chattering between all of you stops as you blankly stare at her. The air of the room grows heavy as you all wait for someone to respond to her. You shift around nervously while Klaus and Diego avert their gaze so they don't have to look at Vanya.

"It's a family matter," Allison replies cautiously

"A family matter." So you couldn't bother to include me but now you're including (Y/N)?" Vanya replies angrily

"In my defense, I live here so it's kinda hard to fully exclude me," you comment "And I'm already a sister to Diego, like what more do I have to do to be considered family?"

"Marry Five," Klaus suggests

"Excuse me?!" Diego exclaims

You put an arm in front of Diego as you try to prevent him from jumping over the bar and attacking Klaus. You then shoot Klaus a death glare. You did not want to speak of Five right now and you did not want to witness Diego go into extreme protective big brother mode.

"Guys, stop. No, it's not like that. We were..." Luther tries to explain

"Don't let me interrupt," Vanya says heading to walk out of the parlor

Quickly Allison rushes over to Vanya trying to stop her from leaving. She states quietly,

"Wait. I'll fill you in later when we're alone."

"Please, please, don't bother. And I won't either." Vanya remarks angrily

"Vanya, that's not fair," Allison says taken aback

"Fair? There's nothing fair about being your sister. I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember." Vanya retorts before turning to the rest of you back near the bar "And I used to think it was Dad's fault, but he's dead. So it turns out you're the assholes."

Vanya rushes out of the parlor and her boyfriend follows after. Allison comes back to the bar and says,

"I'm gonna go find Vanya and explain."

You could see the concern in Allison's eyes. She was trying really hard to be a good sister to Vanya lately and wanted to make her feel included. She tries to walk away but is stopped when Luther says,

"No, wait, there isn't time. We need to figure out what causes the apocalypse. Now, there are loads of possibilities. Nuclear war, asteroids. But I'm thinking this is about the Moon. Right? Dad must have sent me up there for a reason. And I was giving him daily updates on the conditions, I sent field samples. The first thing we need to do is find his research-"

"Hold on. Hold the phone." Klaus interjects "We all died fighting this thing the first time around. Remember?"

"Klaus, shockingly, has a point. What gives us a win this time?" Diego adds

"Five. Last time we didn't have him."

"Pfft. Sorry to burst your bubble Luther but he's barely here this time." You comment

The rest of the group looks at you surprised. You were the last person they thought would be talking poorly of Five. Typically, that would be true but you were so annoyed with the situation at hand. The apocalypse, these problematic siblings, Five's lack of inclusion of you in what he does. Your annoyance at everything was starting to boil over and it was showing.

"Still, he's back, so this time we'll have the full force of the Umbrella Academy, plus you (Y/N). That's what we need." Luther starts up

"So, where's Five now?" Allison questions

"Well, he had a plan to change the timeline. He'll be back soon." Luther states

"Luther, Five has the same type of presence as a pair of house scissors. Randomly comes in and out of this plane of existence without rhyme or reason, never there when you want them and definitelynever there when you need them." You retort

"Oh no, rocky waves on lovebird island?" Klaus jokes

Without hesitation, you grab one of Diego's knives off him and slam it down into the wooden bar between Klaus' hands. Everyone is startled by your forceful action and look at you with shocked expressions. Looking Klaus straight in the eyes, a psychotic smile appears on your face. You had hit your breaking point.

"One more word about Five and I will personally phase my hand through your throat and sever your larynx." You threaten

The room is silent. Pulling the knife out of the bar you hand it back to Diego before starting to walk out of the parlor.

"Where are you going?" Luther asks

"School." You state bluntly

"You haven't been going to school? What about college? You don't want them finding out about this!" Diego exclaims

"Eggo the world is ending in three days, college doesn't even matter at this point." You explain

"Fine." Diego relents

With that, you walk out of the parlor and head to your room to get dressed and leave. When you are out of earshot Klaus lets out a breath he was holding in.

"Holy fuck, that was terrifying and I've seen some shit in my days," Klaus says

"That's my little girl," Diego adds "I'm so proud of her."

"Yeah, you sure trained her well with those knives." Klaus responds "Her and Five are a match made in hell because they're both fucking murderous psychopaths."

Luther looks out the parlor entrance where you had just left before looking back at the group.

"Let's just hope that wherever Five is, he's planning on coming back soon," Luther states

_________________________

After shaking the Handler's hand agreeing to go work as management in the commission, the two of them were warped to 1955 where the commission building was located. As they walked down the path towards the building the Handler said,

"I must admit, Number Five, in all the time that I've been here, I've never met anyone quite like you. Hazel and Cha-Cha, for example, are talented, but they can't see the big picture. Your spunk, your enterprising spirit, it reminds me a great deal of myself, if I may be so vainglorious. If things work out for you here, you could potentially make a fine successor."

Walking into the building Five takes a look around at the place. Being in the field constantly he never really saw the headquarters. As the two of them walk up the building's foyer steps Five states,

"I'd like to discuss the logistics of my family and my gir- my family and my friend's safety at your earliest convenience."

The Handler gives him a look. Five hoped that she didn't notice his almost slip-up. He already knew, that she knew, that you were special to him, but he didn't want her to realize how much in fear that she would end up harming you to get to him.

"Such chutzpah. It's refreshing, I'll admit. Slow down, Five. All in good time. In fact, now that you've finally agreed to work with us, we've got all the time in the world. The Commission works in support of a delicate balance between the timeline of events and mankind's free will." The handler replies

As they continue on the tour the two of them stop by the briefcase room. Five takes a good look at it, he needed to get one of those somehow.

"The briefcase is no longer part of your kit, Five. Free your mind. You're management now." The handler comments

The two of them continue to walk the building together. Five listening intently as the handler explains what goes on. Walking down a hall the handler says,

"All the people on this floor are case managers, each one responsible for one major event at a time."

Stopping at a door Five sees a room filled with rows and rows of people working. The room went so far back that he couldn't tell where it ended.

"So many of them." He comments

"Impressive, isn't it? Being part of something...so grand. Come along." The handler commands

Walking further into the hallway the handler guides the two of them to the tube room.

"Whenever someone chooses the wrong path and the timeline is changed, the Commission gets a report from field agents on the ground. These field reports are sorted and assigned to a case manager. They determine if anyone needs to be removed from the equation to assure that their event happens as it should. Based on that determination, the case manager sends instructions via pneumatic tube to temporal assassins like you formerly were, Number Five." The handler elaborates showing off the tube room

Five look intently at the room. He knew he wouldn't be here in the commission building for long and he was strategizing how to halt the commission and stop the apocalypse

"Any queries so far?" she asks

"Yeah. Who was the case manager handling me?" Five questions

"Ah. You mean the apocalypse." The handler says touching his cheek

Five didn't like her touching him. Something about it felt cold and sent a chill through his spine. It was nothing like when you would touch his cheek. When you did it, it felt warm and full of kindness. The handler removes her hand and walks out of the tube room and down the hall towards a door. In there is a smaller room of people working behind desks. The two of them walk over to a woman working.

"Five, meet Dot." The handler introduces

"Oh, hi." Dot says

"Dot is responsible for all apocalypse matters. In fact, it was Dot here who first flagged your appearance in 2019." The handler explains

"No hard feelings." Dot adds

Five looks at them with cold stoic stares.

"Well, you certainly put us through the wringer. Outsmarting two of our so-called best temporal assassins. If that doesn't spell leadership material" The handler states raising her voice

The workers in the room go quiet and stop their work to look at her.

"...I just don't know." she finishes softly

The handler walks away and around the desk in front of Dot's. Grabbing a red folder, she hands it to Five. Five opens it up and looks at it while the handler says,

"I suspect you like a challenge, Five. Which is why I've given you a particularly complex first case.  
It's too bad Joseph Späh decided against sabotaging the fuel tank. It would've been so much easier. Anyhoo...if you have any questions I'll be right behind you."

With that, the handler leaves the room and Five sits down at his new desk and tries to blend in. As he looks through the case file Five he hears Dot from behind him,

"Hiya, Five. How's it going?"

"I must have utter silence in order to complete this task." He replies firmly, not looking up from his work

"Oh, okay." Dot says before continuing "Hey, a few of us are having lunch, and I was wondering if you- you're doing something."

Five ignores her though. Rolling up a piece of paper he places it in a transportation tube and walks out of the case manager room he was working in. As he walks away he can hear Dot call from behind him,

"Oh, Bye!"

Five makes his way down the hall to the tube room and enters. Looking through the tubes he finds the one he needed and attempts to place his container in it. Before he can though he is stopped by the handler saying,

"I'm afraid that's not procedure."

Five turns to see her there. It was like she was always one step ahead of him. He needed to try and get her off his back so that he could actually get stuff done and return back to 2019, and to (Y/N). Five looks and watches as an older woman slowly gets up from her desk and makes her way over to where he and the handler stood.

"Five, meet Gloria. Gloria is perhaps the single most vital cog in our machine. Gloria, this is Number Five." The handler introduces

"Look at you. Deadly little thing. So happy we decided to close the contract on your life." Gloria tells Five

"I'm afraid your reputation precedes you. And it looks like you're building on it here." The handler explains grabbing the message container from him

Opening it up she finds a piece of paper and hands the container over to Gloria. Unrolling the paper she sees the words "TERMINATE KARL WEBER" typed up.

"Karl Weber. Now tell me, why unfortunate Karl?" The handler asks

With a proud smile, Five starts to explain,

"Karl Weber is the butcher at the shop where Captain Ernst A. Lehmann acquires his weekly roast. So, if Karl dies, his butcher shop is passed on to his son Otto, who...never washes his hands, which is disgusting."

"So he's the one who gives the captain his roast." The handler chimes

"And that gives him food poisoning." Five replies

"Which makes him late for work. Which delays the takeoff." The handler responds

"And to make up for lost time, the Hindenburg flies through a weather front of high electrical charge and humidity." Five adds

"And the static electricity inside the aircraft makes it a virtual tinderbox. Tiny engine sparks..." The handler comments

"And just like that, we have...PSHEW" Five finishes with an explosion sound

The handler and Gloria smile in awe of his genius. Five was also quite proud of himself but this was all just a cover. If he could get the commission to admire him maybe they would worry less about him defecting again. He needed to gain some type of trust so he could get away with the rest of his plan to get back to the academy and stop the apocalypse. After the message is sent the handler wraps one arm around Five's shoulders and brings him back to the case managers office where he works. As she makes her way to the front of the room Five heads back to his desk to sit.

"I'm sure you've all heard that Mr. Five has proven to be as adept with a pen as he was with a sword. Let his effort serve as inspiration to you all." The handler states before asking "Herb! How long have you been on the Lusitania?"

"Oh, ah... Well, let's see, I, uh..." Herb stutters

"Sorry?" She questions sarcastically

"When I first started..." Herb tries to explain

"Sorry? Still can't hear you." The handler says before the lunch bell rings

The other case managers get up from their desks and start to walk out but Five stays. As the others leave he can hear the handler say,

"Gene, a word before you go to lunch. Gutenberg seems to be having second thoughts about the printing press."

Once everyone is out of the room Five takes the file on the apocalypse from Dot's desk and hides it under his shirt. Looking around he makes sure no one saw what he did before going to the bathroom to read the file.

_________________________

When you arrived at your high school you took a deep breath and took a look around at all the other students. You watched as they talked and laughed with their friends without a care in the world. For them, it was just a typical Friday morning. Holding on to the straps of your backpack you passed all of them by in the halls and made your way to your locker. It felt weird being back here. These past five days had felt less like days and more like years with everything that happened. Even though you were surrounded by tons of people you felt alone. Nobody here knew what you knew or went through what you went through. Knowledge is power but ignorance is bliss and you wished you could once again be ignorant like those around you. You made your way to your locker and carefully put in the lock combination that you had done so many times before. Opening the locker you stare into it looking at the pictures and magnets you had put up to make it your own. Consumed by your thoughts you look into the metallic void knowing that soon it would all be gone. You were so zoned out from the real world that you didn't hear your name being called. You felt someone grab your shoulder. Reacting quickly you manifest a knife you kept on your person into your hand and press it up against the throat of the person who grabbed you.

"I knew this was coming at some point but could you not kill me today." the person says

Realizing who it was you lower the knife and hide it away.

"Jesus Dean. Why don't you startle me a bit more?" You say sarcastically

"I'll do better next time." He sarcastically replies

"Where's everyone else?" You ask

"They're down the hall but I'm sure they'll be over soon" Dean explains "I just came over first because I'm number 1."

"Lucas is one." You retort

"Okay yeah technically he's one and I'm two but it's better to be two anyway because that means I'm the shit. Life is my bitch!" Dean elaborates

"Well, apparently life is a top then because it's fucking me over." You reply

"What a mood." You hear a voice shout coming down the hall.

You and Dean both look over and see a group of seemingly mismatched kids walking your way. They weren't just any kids though, they were your friends.

"Life is just fucking us all over in our own special ways. Life's a kinky bitch." your friend Kenny adds

Your friend Addison comes up to you and hugs you before letting go and saying,

"I'm glad you're back. We were all worried about you."

"Thanks, guys," You reply

You take a look at your group of six friends as they stand before you. There was Lucas, Dean, Addison, Kenny, Bren, and Viktoria. You had met all your friends during your first week back at school after you had arrived in the future. One by one you became associated with this strange mix of kids but together you made a tight-knit group. There was Lucas a tall boy, with blonde hair, blue eyes, golden retriever energy, and a follow-the-rules type of attitude. He was your typical all American boy, student body president, a linebacker for the varsity football team, with a popular girlfriend whom he adored. He was also president of the weight lifting club with a somewhat unnatural amount of strength.

Then there was Dean a tough exterior but soft interior type of guy with dark hair, dark eyes, and tan skin. He was a friend of Lucas' who you then stole and became closer to, so close that your friends called you the twins even though neither of you was related to the other. Although his IQ still drops to 20 or less when he's with Lucas. Dean was an archery extraordinaire, never missing a target and he participated in MMA starting at age 15. He grew to have an interest in criminal justice but didn't develop an interest in following the law.

Addison was your typical, pretty, popular girl. _The_ popular girl to be exact. With curly brown hair, flawless dark skin, and deep brown eyes she was a sight to behold. Always the center of attention she made her mark as a theater prodigy, always getting the starring roles in plays and musicals. She wasn't just some pretty girl though, she was top of her psychology class and was a master manipulator. She could probably convince a random person to do a heinous act like it was a simple request. She loved all of the things she could do but above all else, she loved her friends and her boyfriend, Lucas.

Kenny was a goofy, lovable, and eccentric person. Kenny was a lanky boy who had a taste for some of the illicit things life had to offer and believes he can see dead people if he gets high enough (probably not though). When he speaks, others take 1d4 psychological damage every time he says something stupid. He was an EMT, nobody knew how, but he was and he was a good one at that. He swore up and down that he was the best EMT in the city and he could bring himself and others to and from the brink of death. Why to? Nobody knows nor asks. Although he was a free-flowing idiot he was still a loyal friend.

Brendon who went by Bren, was one of the more reserved friends you had made. A highly intelligent and compassionate person, Bren was the leader of the community service club at your school. He wanted the best for everyone. He was also always reading and trying to attain knowledge. When he wasn't reading though he became the other half of a full dumbass with Kenny. Polar opposites and yet they were practically inseparable with Bren being the more responsible of the two. A little known fact about him was that he was oddly too good at using whips to trap people. He carried two of them on him under his jacket at all times and they were practically extensions of his body.

And then there was Viktoria. Shy, quiet, Viktoria. All of you adored her. She might not be the most outgoing of the bunch but boy was she passionate. She passionately played the viola and was a musical genius. She was passionate about the works of music she wrote. She was passionate about using her musical abilities in real-world situations but most of all she was passionate about her friends.

You loved every single one of your friends and if the world was going to end you didn't want to be spending it in school where you only saw them a few times during the day. You wanted to spend as much time as you could. Turning your attention to them all you say,

"Guys I have an idea-"

"I'm in," Dean says before you finish

"I didn't finish." You reply

"Doesn't matter. I'm in." He says

"Alright...as I was saying, I have an idea. We should skip school." You finish

"I'm down," Kenny responds

"If he's going then I better go." Bren comments

"I've been feeling a little rebellious lately so sure," Viktoria states

"I don't know guys, that goes against school rules and they have campus security anyway so even if we tried they'd just chase us," Lucas explains

Classic Lucas, always the goody-two-shoes who had the utmost respect for authority.

"Oh c'mon. Will you do it for me? Pleaseeeee." Addison begs

"Pleaseeeee" you and everyone else chimes in

Lucas looks around at you all. Letting out a sigh he nods his head yes and you all cheer. You had broken him enough to break the rules.

"But let's try not to get caught." He adds

The first-period bell rings and the seven of you try to make it to the front door while the crowds of kids file into classrooms. You make it most of the way there when suddenly a voice shouts from behind you,

"Where are you headed?"

You all look back with blank stares before collectively realizing that a campus security guard was standing in the hall. You all froze for a second before Dean yelled out,

"RUN!"

Quickly, you all make a break for it and head towards the front doors of the school. Busting out of the doors you all run towards Dean's car. He slides across the hood and gets into the driver's seat. Bren, Viktoria, and Lucas quickly get into the back.

"Uh, should I sit in the front seat or the back seat?" Addison questions

"Addison, this is no time to be Rebecca Black in her song Friday, pick one!" You command

Addison gets in the backseat and sit's on Lucas' lap while you get in the front passenger seat. Dean pulls out of the spot and starts to drive away when you say,

"Sound off!"

"Hercules," Lucas says

"Marksman" Dean adds

"Spotlight" Addison comments

"Whiplash" Bren states

"Sonata" Viktoria finishes

"And Ringmaster," You say looking around at the surroundings "Shit, where's Necrotic?"

Looking in the rearview mirror you see Kenny trying to run after the car.

"WAIT! PLEASE!" He shouts

"DEAN STOP!" You yell

He breaks hard. Not anticipating the car to stop abruptly, Kenny hits the trunk and falls back. Bren quickly gets out of the car and grabs Kenny's arm, pulling him off the ground and into the back seat.

"I swear you will be the death of me" Bren comments

"I love you too Brennyboo" Kenny replies

With Kenny sitting on Bren's lap, Dean quickly peels out of the school parking lot. You think you're in the clear when suddenly a cop car shows up behind you. Shit.

"Hey, not to be that guy but there's a cop car behind us. Maybe we should pull over." Lucas suggests

"Not on my watch," Dean replies

He then shifts gears and starts to drive faster, weaving through the traffic and speeding down the city streets. The cop car which didn't have its lights on before threw them on along with the sirens as he trailed you down the roads. The car approaches an intersection. You knew at that point you were probably caught. Aw man, if you got caught Chuck was not going to be happy. He'd go on a whole spiel about how Eudora wouldn't want this from you.

"We need to lose him," you say to Dean

"We will," He assures

As both the intersection and the cop car get closer Lucas exclaims,

"Dean, you're breaking the law!"

"No. I _**am**_ the law!" He yells back

Shifting gears once more he slams on the gas and drives the car into the middle of the intersection. You and the rest of the car scream for your life as he performs some donuts in the four-way intersection. The speed and direction of the donuts causing you all to whip to the side of the car. You see as the cop car stops and watches before Dean drifts to the opposite side of the road and takes off. The cop that was following you hadn't lost your trail yet. As Dean kept speeding you say the side road that led to the umbrella academy coming up. You had mixed feelings about bringing them there but with three days left you thought it was about time to.

"Pull off here!" You command

"Huh?" Dean questions

"DO IT!" you demand

Dean pulls off into the side road. As you watch the cop not notice you and speed by, you and the rest of the traumatized crew finally can breathe.

"Let's do that again!" Kenny exclaims

"Let's not." Viktoria quietly replies

Quietly, you got out of the car and your friends followed confused. You opened the gates of the Academy and approached the front door before turning to your friends.

"(Y/N), we know you love the Umbrella Academy as much as the rest of us but breaking and entering doesn't seem like a good idea." Lucas says

"It's not breaking and entering." You state

"Why's that?" Viktoria asks

"Because this is where I live." answer

Your friends look at you in shock. You knew that this would be hard to process and everything else that came next would probably be even harder.

"I thought you lived in the house across the street? Every time we picked you up you were always on those steps." Addison questions

"Well it is true that I lived there at one point but in reality, I was transporting my molecules over to those steps from these ones. If you come inside I can explain it better." You say gesturing to the door.

Your friends look around at each other but one by one they file into the house. You watch as they look on in awe of the place. Guiding them to the parlor you sit them all down on the couches and stand in front of them. They look at you in silence waiting for what you have to say as you stare back wondering where to start.

"You guys know that I have always been forthright about my abilities but I haven't been quite honest about how they came to be," you start to explain "As you know I was born October 1st, and you guys always assumed it was 2000 but the truth is I was born October 1st, 1989."

"The same day as the Umbrella Academy kids," Bren says

"But you can't be born in 1989, you're way too young." Dean comments

"Yeah, and what does this have to do with the Umbrella Academy?" Kenny asks

You turn away from them and walk over to the back wall of the parlor. Hanging there was a photo of you with the Umbrella Academy when you all celebrated your 13th birthdays together. You look at your young smiling faces as you stand in a line with arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. The good old days before things became complicated. Grabbing the picture off the wall you bring it back over to your friends and hand it to them to look at. You can see their faces contort as they look at the photograph.

"Is that- is that you? With the Umbrella Academy?" Lucas questions

"Yes, it is. That was taken October 1st, 2002. We all celebrated our 13th birthday together after we stopped a robbery hostage situation at the Capital West Bank. They were my first friend group." You respond

"But- but if you were 13 in 2002 how come we met you at 13 years old in 2013. Shouldn't you be 29 now if you were born in 1989?" Kenny inquires

"Technically I should but here's where it all gets messy. I was very close friends with Five, Number Five to you guys. He was and to this day still is my best friend. But one day he decided that he knew best and tried to use his powers to time travel. He did it, but he accidentally brought me with him before disappearing alone into the future. I was only 13 when I arrived in 2013 which is why I'm 18 now but I technically should be 29 like you said." you answer

"Okay that's already a lot but it doesn't answer why you live here." Addison states

"When I arrived in the future in 2013, my parents who I lived in the house across the street with were gone. They had been gone for 8 years because they couldn't stand to live in the house without me." you elaborate "Everyone was gone actually. My parents, my friends, the whole life I knew disappeared over years but it only felt like few minutes to me."

"So that's why you didn't want to do the Umbrella Academy for our impactful heroes research project...because those were your friends and you had just lost them." Viktoria says

"We made you do your portion of the project on your missing best friend as well...oh no" Bren adds

Your friends sit in silence as the weight of the information you had just revealed to them sinks in. You watch them for their reactions, hoping that they'll say something. There's more silence for a moment but then Dean says,

"Who cares if you have a weird past. I still love you and you're still my twin."

He gets up off the couch and walks over to you and gives you a hug. Tightly you wrap your arms back around him, at least you know you still have one friend. Slowly but surely though the rest of your friends get up to hug you ask well until you're all bundled into one group hug. As you all stand there you ask,

"Anyone else need to get something off their chest?"

"I do!" Kenny says

The group hug breaks as you all turn to look at him. He gives you all a very serious look before proclaiming,

"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to fuck special agent oso."

"Goddammit, Kenny!" Dean exclaims ready to hit him

"C'mon!" Lucas complains

"Bren..." Addison says resigned

"I'm on it." He replies

Reaching into his jacket pocket he pulls out a d4 dice.

"If Bren rolls a four you lose voice box privileges for causing too many points of psychological damage." You explain

"Yeah yeah I know, just get on with it." Kenny retorts

Bren crouches so he is closer to the floor and shakes the dice in his hand. Letting it go it rolls to the floor as you all look on in anticipation. The dice stops rolling and you wait for the result.

"What is it Bren?" Viktoria asks

"Sorry guys, it's a 3" Bren replies

Groans and sighs fill the air as Kenny exclaims,

"In your face bitches! Kenny gets to speak his mind, and his mind is saying that Oso has a fat ass and I'm ready to rail it."

"Alright, who wants a tour of the Umbrella Academy?" You ask

There's a flurry of excited I do's at the suggestion of that idea. Whether it was because your friends were all UA super fans or because they wanted Kenny to stop, you couldn't tell.

"Give me one second."

You head over to the couch where the photo of you and the umbrella academy kids on your birthday. Grabbing it you head back to the spot where it was hanging on the wall and put it back up. You take a long look at it placing a gentle hand on the glass of the frame. You then take a glance at your enthusiastic friends. You look back at the painting once more and realize that the photo might've been the good old days but that didn't mean the good days had gone by. Heading back to your friends you start to walk them through the house giving details of what occurred where. As you walked around with them though you wondered and worried about Five. You hoped that wherever he was, he was doing okay.

_________________________

Five was not doing okay. Five had gone to the bathroom to read the file on the apocalypse but right as he sat down to read the file walked into the bathroom. He heard the sound of heels clicking but it was when he saw the signature red heels in the stall next to him that he knew he was found out.

"Shit," he mumbled to himself

"So, how's your first day going?" He could hear the handler ask

"Couldn't be better." Five replied

He was lying.

"Glad to hear it. I burned my rugae. Ever burn your rugae? It's the ridges on the hard palate that help pass food to the esophagus. Anyway, I'm on a liquid diet for two days, hence the marathon of urination. One faulty cog and nothing works as it should." The handler explains "You know, we value integrity at the office above all else. Trust is essential, and that trust is built over time. But in the event of a breach, the Commission will act swiftly and without mercy. Efficiency I'm sure you above all people can appreciate"

The handler walks out of the stall next to Five as he places the file back under his shirt. From outside his stall, she asks,

"I'm feeling peckish. Have you had your lunch?"

"Not yet." Five responds

The handler peeks her head over the top of the stall to look at Five. She then says,

"Great. How would you like to lunch with me in my office? You can eat solid foods, and I can live vicariously through you."

Five crosses his arms over his chest to try and hide the outline of the file pressing against his shirt. With a fake smile, he replies,

"Sounds great."

As the handler walks out of the bathroom Five quickly gets up from sitting on the toilet and makes his way out of the stall. Heading back to the case managers room he places the file back on Dot's desk while everyone is still on lunch break. He then collects himself as to not be suspicious and makes his way to the handler's office. The two of them have lunch as the handler discusses the details behind the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which led to the start of World War 1. Pushing a bowl of candy towards Five the handler asks,

"Care for dessert?"

"I had a bad Twinkie in the apocalypse once. It kind of put me off desserts." He replies

"Please, indulge me." She says pushing the bowl closer

Five grabs one of the candies and unwraps it, popping it into his mouth.

"What's that taste like to you?" She asks

"The 1950s?" Five questions

"Precisely right." The handler exclaims "Our clever metaphysics division concocted a way to perfectly distill an entire decade into a single candy. This one's modeled after the Fudge Mutt, America's favorite in 1955."

"Remarkable." Five comments impressed

Looking around the room he sees a table full of weaponry. Pointing towards it he asks,

"Is that a Chinese flamethrower?"

The two of them walk over to the weaponry table as the handler responds,

"Good eye. War. Such a fascinating concept. A temporary salve for a permanent human flaw. These are just some of the things I've collected in my travels. M26 grenades from the Vietnam War."

The handler then picks up a gun and aims it towards the wall.

"And this, the most noteworthy, perhaps. My Walther pistol. The very one Hitler used to kill himself. We're not supposed to take these kinds of things, but...he wasn't gonna use it anymore. Feel how perfectly balanced that is." She explains

She hands Five the gun to feel it. Taking it in his hand he holds it. He didn't focus on it much as it wasn't important, there were more important things at hand. As he lowered the weapon to his side, he straightened himself out and looked at the handler.

"I had some thoughts I wanted to run by you. Some suggestions to improve Commission protocol."

"Shaking things up already. I admire that. Do tell!" The handler replies excitedly

"Gloria. The tube operator. Wouldn't it be simpler if case managers were to send their own messages?" Five questions

"I appreciate the thought, but everyone loves Gloria. I would never hear the end of it. She's been with the Commission family for years, and she's this close to making pension." The handler explains as she sits back down at her desk

"Sorry to interrupt. May I have a moment alone?" Dot asks as she enters the room

"Of course. Duty calls. We'll continue this discussion later, Five." The handler says to Five

"May I?" Five asks gesturing to the candy bowl

"Please." She says extending a hand to gesture to it

Grabbing a handful Five shoves the candy in his jacket pocket before walking out of the room.

_________________________

After showing your friends the parlor and dining room on the main floor you decided to take them out to the courtyard. They look around for a bit taking in the scenery and you do the same. There were so many memories here. So many memories with Five that is. You longingly stare at the bench. Those days were so much simpler.

"Whacha looking at?" Dean asks

You're pulled out of your thoughtful trance and look over at him confused for a second. Giving your head a small shake you focus on the question at hand.

"See that bench over there?" You point out

Dean turns his head to look and your other friends turn their heads towards the direction of your voice before looking towards the bench as well.

"That bench is how I first met Five," you explain

"Oh, so he was over there sitting on the bench?" Dean asks

"No, he pushed me over it. I was invisible and he went inside to chase Klaus so I'm outside deciding if I wanted to steal his sandwich or not but he came back and tried to grab his sandwich but he accidentally pushed me and I fell over the bench. And then we became best friends." You elaborate

"Odd way to make a close friend, but go off I guess" Addison comments

"You think that's an odd way? Back in 8th grade, she told me that if I got any closer without stating who I was that she was going to gut me and sell my organs for profit on the black market. That was the first week of her joining our school. She flashed a knife at me." Dean exclaims "but look at us now! A couple of besties!"

"You came up to me while holding your bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. I'm sorry my instinct is self-preservation." You retort

"You two need help." Lucas replies

"Lucas, we all need help," Viktoria says

As all of you discuss who needs help most a voice from across the courtyard says,

"Who's this guy?"

You see Kenny standing there next to the statue of Ben. You were about to answer him when Bren cuts you off. Exasperated he says,

"For my sake, can you please do just a tiny bit of critical thinking? It says Ben Hargreeves on the plaque."

"So it does." Kenny replies

The rest of the group walks over to the statue and takes a look at it. He was memorialized by the statue but you always thought it was a poorly done job. It didn't look anything like him. No book in his hand, no smile on his face, no light in his eyes. Just a sad statue with hallow eyes that made the already empty courtyard feel emptier.

"He looks so sad. Have you ever given him a hug?" Kenny asks

You think to yourself for a moment. Through all your time of staying here you had never given him a hug. Without saying a word you step up onto the pedestal for the statue. You look at the somber design of Ben's face. He deserved this. Wrapping your arms around the statue you give it a tight hug. What you didn't know is that from the attic window Ben could see what you were doing. Leaving Klaus and Diego who were trying to help him be sober he went outside and stood on the pedestal with you. As hug the statue you feel a molecular disturbance around you. Looking around you see the same vague shape that had been following Klaus around all this week. You blink a couple of times to make sure your vision isn't messed up. It's not, you still feel and see the disturbance and you knew for sure what it was.

"Ben..." You whisper

You couldn't see his face but he was so happy to hear his name come from your mouth. This was the first time he was acknowledged by someone who wasn't Klaus. He was seen. You feel the molecular disturbance around you get tighter and you tightly hug the statue back trying your best to show him that you missed him and that you still cared. This was the first time that he was hugged in years. He couldn't remember the last time someone held him. Everything you had done for him when he was gone, decorate his statue so it looked less sad, talked to it, read him books every day, and now given him a hug, it meant the world to him. You remembered him for who he was and not for what he did in the Umbrella Academy. Slowly, you let go of the statue and step down from the pedestal. You take one more look at it and say,

"I'll see you later."

Then turning to your friends you add,

"Alright how about we head back inside for the rest of the tour."

As you all walk to the door that leads to the kitchen Kenny asks,

"Hey who was that guy she was hugging?"

"We- we went over this..." Ben replies "Ben Hargreeves"

"So it was the same guy?" Kenny asks

"Wh-What? Did the face ever change?" Bren questions exasperated

"No, I guess not." Kenny says

You all make your way into the kitchen but when you do you think you're hallucinating because there by the stove is Mom. You slowly approach but when she sees you she gives you a big smile and says,

"Oh, (Y/N)! I didn't expect you to be here!"

"Mom!" You exclaim running into her arms

You had no clue how she was back on but you didn't care. You were so happy that you had your mom back. After all the losses you went through to be able to get one of them back was a miracle that you could've only dreamed of.

"No what's all this about?" She asks in her perpetually chipper voice

"I just missed you a lot," you reply not letting her go

"Aw, well it hasn't been that long but I missed you too. Who are those kids over there?" Grace asks

You then remembered that your friends were here and you turn around to them. Walking over to them with your mom you introduce,

"Friends this is my mom, Mom these are my friends from school."

"Well, it's nice to meet all of you!" Grace says before adding "Oh wow."

"What is it, Mom?" You question

"It's just your friends look so much like the rest of the academy when they were younger." She replies

You look at her confused before looking back at your friends. You stare at them for a bit but then it hits you. She was right. Your friends did look like the umbrella academy when they were younger. Your friends were a knock-off in terms of both looks and when you thought more about it, in their interests, abilities, and personalities as well. They were a bargain brand bunch. When you came to the future in 2013, you didn't just make friends to make friends. You made friends to fill in the spots of the ones who were gone. You might genuinely see them as your friends now but they started out as a coping mechanism. How did you never realize this? You didn't know. You are pulled out of your trance when Grace says,

"How about I make you all some cookies?"

There's an overwhelming amount of yeahs and pleases from your friends. You nod to your mom as well and say,

"I'm going to go show them some more of the house. Just let me know when they're ready and we'll come and get them."

"Oh don't worry about that, I'll just bring them to you guys. It was nice to meet you all!"

Your friends say their thank-yous as you head out of the kitchen and you all head upstairs towards the bedrooms. As you do so you pass the gallery that featured the paintings of the umbrella academy over the years, the many promotional items, and framed pages from magazine interviews.

"Wow, this is cool!" Lucas exclaims "So much history!"

"Well yes, but all of this-" You say gesturing to the gallery of stuff "It's all just a front."

"What do you mean?" Dean asks

"Having powers isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially not in this house." you answer

"Oh." Dean replies, going quiet

You all finish the walk over to the bedrooms and go down the hall showing off each room one by one. Skipping over Ben's room you show off Diego's room first.

"This was Diego's room, but when I moved in it became mine so it's not much to see other than my stuff," you explain

You then show off Klaus' and Vanya's rooms. There wasn't much to show off in Vanya's but your friends seemed to enjoy the writing and drawings on Klaus' wall. Kenny enjoyed them so much so that he decided to skip the tour of the rest of the rooms. You then went over and showed your friends Five's room. Opening the door you all walk in. Your friends look at the walls covered top to bottom in chalk writing.

"What is all this writing?" Viktoria asks

"I'm not sure. The last time I was in here these weren't there." You explain

"The numbers Mason!" Kenny exclaims

You had no clue when Kenny rejoined you but nevertheless, he was here now.

"WHAT DO THEY MEAN?" The rest of the boys reply

"You guys are stupid." Addison comments "Anyway, what were you saying (Y/N)?"

"Well, this is Five's room. I don't remember the writing on the walls but Five and I hung out in his room a lot before I was introduced to his siblings. We'd sit on the floor and just talk. It was nice."

"Well, how did the writing get here then if I wasn't here the last time you were in here?" Bren asks

"I'm assuming Five wrote it at some point this week." You reply

"I thought he was missing?" Viktoria comments

"He was, but he came back on Sunday." You explain nonchalantly

"Oh, okay." Viktoria adds

"I don't mean to come off rude but your life is weird." Kenny states

"No, you're absolutely right." You reply "Anyway we still have two more rooms to take a look at. Come along."

You take your friends out of Five's room and walk them down the hall to Luther and Allison's. You mainly did it because being in the room was making you miss Five. You wished you knew where he was and if he was safe. Opening both doors at the same time you show them the rooms right that were located next to each other. You watch as Lucas and Addison are the first to walk into the rooms. Lucas going into Luther's and Addison going into Allison's. The rest of you watch as they start to obsess over everything in the rooms. You were happy that they were happy but it was also odd. As they continued their fan freakouts Dean asked,

"So is there anywhere else you can show us?"

You think for a second and then remember that the roof was like a second courtyard. It had plants and a planetarium and a lovely archway that led to a walled-off part of the roof.

"Yeah there is," you answer

"Hey, guys I have one more place to show you." You tell Lucas and Addison

Addison comes out of Allison's room but Lucas doesn't leave as he's too busy looking at something. Entering Luther's room you see that Lucas is looking at the record collection. Grabbing the portable record player you hand it to Lucas. You then decide to grab a handful of records from the shelf. Turning to Lucas you comment,

"I don't think Luther would mind us borrowing these for a bit."

With a smile, Lucas follows you out of the room and you direct them all to the roof of the building.

_________________________

After leaving the room Five stood down at the end of the hall around a corner. Waiting for Dot to leave the room he watches as she exits the handler's office and goes directly to the tube room. Spacial jumping into the tube room he hides behind one of the machines as he watches Dot interact with Gloria. Handing Gloria a communication's tube Dot demands,

"Get this to Hazel and Cha-Cha immediately. Immediately."

"Okay. Yeah." Gloria responds nervously

Dot rushes out of the tube room and while Gloria is looking at the label on the communication tube Five spacial jumps behind her and knocks her out using a stapler. Rushing to Gloria's desk, Five quickly opens the communication tube and reads the message inside. The paper says "Protect Harold Jenkins". Folding up the piece of paper he places it in his pocket and then rushes to type up two new messages, one saying "Terminate Cha-Cha For Immediate Extraction" and the other saying "Terminate Hazel For Immediate Extraction". Places the two messages into communications tubes he seals them both up before dragging Gloria's unconscious body behind her desk. He then rushes the place the communications tubes into the pneumatic tubes. As he finishes doing that a figure appears in the doorway.

"You know that's not how we do things here. Where's Gloria?" The handler asks

"Don't know. Couldn't find her anywhere." Five responds calmly

The handler turns her head and sees Gloria laying on the floor. She then turns her attention back to Five and says,

"You're a great disappointment to me. You can't change what's to come, Five. I truly find it so odd that you can't shed this fantasy. You're a first-rate pragmatist. You belong here with us."

Five's blood boils at her words. This wasn't a fantasy. He was going to stop the apocalypse no matter what it took to do so. And how dare she say he belonged with them.

"I don't belong anywhere, thanks to you. You made me a killer." Five spats

"You were always a killer. I just pointed you in a direction." The handler retorts

Pulling a gun out the handler starts shooting at Five but he spacial jumps away as to not get shot. As the handler continues to fire off rounds a voice can be heard over the speaker repeating over and over,

"Security to tube room. Security breach in tube room."

Five tries to push a cart into the handler's side but she stops it with her foot and shoots at him. Jumping away once more, the handler starts to aim her gun around and calls out,

"What's the rush, Five? We're just getting started. Is this how you want the last line of your report to read?"

Popping up behind her Five replies with a smirk,

"When I'm done, I'm done, I guess."

The handler turns and points her gun at him.

"You can't keep this up, Five. We both know that even you have a limit. I saved you from a lifetime of being alone. You owe me." The handler states

She clicks her gun at him but nothing happens. The handler ran out of bullets. Spacial jumping behind her once more Five confidently replies,

"I do owe a debt. But it's not to you."

Pulling the pin out of one of the grenades he took from the handler's office he waves it around as she turns to look at him. Rolling it towards her, it stops at her feet. He then runs out of the room and leans against a wall in the hallway as the sound of a large explosion occurs. Fire spits out of the doorway to the room he was just in. Spacial jumping once more he makes his way into the briefcase room and sets up a briefcase to take him back in time to the beginning of this day. Pulling the pin out of a second grenade he runs out of the briefcase room. As the room explodes in front of him he opens the briefcase to travel through time. With his new knowledge and three days left again, he was ready to get back to you and stop the apocalypse.

_________________________

Bringing your friends to the roof you showed them around the beautiful open area. They were absolutely enthralled with it the same way that you were the first time you saw it. Deciding this is where you all wanted to stay for the rest of the day, you all ran back downstairs to grab pillows and blankets so you could set up a nice little sitting area. You also grabbed some more records from Luther's room. When you all finished setting up the sun was starting to set. Together you guys sat and watch the sun fade over the city. Rays of the orange glow reflecting off of building windows as bit by bit of the sun disappeared. When the warm glow of day finally turned into a starry night you and your friends laid on the pillows and blankets staring into the cosmos above.

"Y'know looking at the stars is nice but I have a better idea." Lucas states

Getting up from the pillows and blankets you all were laying on he heads over to the portable record player and places a record on to the turntable. Placing the needle down the record begins to spin and the first couple of beats from I Think We're Alone Now by Tiffany come through the speaker of the player. You all sit up and watch as Lucas starts to sway side to side to the music. He dancing alone for a second but shortly after, one by one each of you go and join him. Turning up the volume on the record player, you blast the song through the night for all to hear. You smiled as you danced under the stars with your friends and thought about how you'd be content if the world ended right now. Sure there would be things and people that you'd miss like Diego and Five, but at this moment you were at peace. After all the chaos you had been through thus far, dying at this moment, a moment where you were happy and surrounded by people you loved didn't sound too bad. But the world was still ending in three days and this night wouldn't even be a memory as the timeline of events for this day would change.


	22. The Bargain Brand Bunch - "The Day That Wasn't" Side Story

**2/5/14:**

It had been about a month since you first started at your new school and over the course of that month, you were able to make a nice group of friends to spend time with. It was even better because all of you shared your classes together, except for math. Your friend Kenny had to be put in the lower math class because he struggled with it. But this wasn't math class, this was English and your teacher Ms. Lewis was finally going to announce the research project that she had been hyping up since the beginning of the spring year.

"Alright, kids I am so excited to tell you about your research project!" Ms. Lewis says "As you all know I am a big fan of superheroes as I was born only 2 years before the kids in the Umbrella Academy were, which is why I have decided that our research project will be about impactful heroes both real and fictional! One half of the project is the actual research part and then the other half is a presentation for the class on what you learned. Please get into groups and decide what hero or heroes you might want to do."

Quickly you and your friends get into a group. Putting your desks in a circle you sit and talk about who your project should be about.

"Guys, we have to do the Umbrella Academy!" Lucas exclaims

"Yeah!" Addison exclaims

"That would be so cool," Dean adds

You shifted around nervously in your chair. You really did not want to do the Umbrella Academy for your research project. You had only arrived in the future a few months ago and before your friends now, the Hargreeves kids were your friends, but time had gone on and you were without them. To possibly do a project about people you had lost so recently, well it hurt more than anything. You thought over the memories you had with them, playing piano with Vanya, Reading books with Ben, piggyback races with Diego...spending time with Five. You didn't want to do this. It was already starting to upset you remembering all the things you would never be able to do again.

"I don't know guys, why don't we do like Peter Parker or something. There are plenty of different Spider-Men to report on." You try to convince

"Yeah but all the Spider-Men are all pretty similar. The Umbrella Academy has a whole bunch of different powers!" Kenny exclaims

"But there's six of them and seven of us," You retort desperate the get them to change their minds

"Actually," Viktoria pipes up "My mom works for a publishing company and I got to read a new manuscript written by a secret seventh sibling. Her name is Vanya Hargreeves and I'd be willing to go as her if we do the Umbrella Academy." 

"B- but..." you stutter

"What if we take a vote?" Bren suggests

The rest of your group nods their heads. You had a bad feeling about the outcome but you really didn't have any other choice. 

"All in favor of the Umbrella Academy?" Bren questions

Everyone but you raises their hand. You let out a defeated sigh. 

"Alright. you guys win." You say resigned

Your friends excitedly start to talk about the project and you just sit back and watch. 

"So each one of us will be one of the siblings." Lucas states "I'll be number one because Luther is my favorite and if you don't let me I'm throwing you out the classroom window."

"I'll go as Vanya. Did you guys know that she played the violin, that's cool since I play the viola." Viktoria says

You knew that Vanya played the violin. You played duets with her on the piano.

"I'll be Klaus because I can see the dead too," Kenny says

"No, you can't" Bren remarks

"Can too! Remember that ghost girl we saw?" Kenny asks

"That was just a very pale child." Bren responds "Anyway, I'm going to be Ben"

"I'll be Allison! We look similar anyway so it works out!" Addison comments

"And I'm going to be Diego because he's the coolest! Isn't that right (Y/N)?" Dean exclaims

You laugh at him. He reminded you of Diego back when he was still young. When you were all still young.

"So that just leaves (Y/N) as Number Five." Lucas comments

Your eyes shoot wide. No, no, no. Any of them but him. You couldn't do him as the one you were supposed to do research on. You had just lost him, it hadn't even been three months since he and everyone else was gone. 

"I would prefer not to..." You state

"Well he's the only one left (Y/N), you have no other options." Bren states

You look down towards your lap. Wrapping a hand around the locket you wore you whispered so only you could hear,

"Oh Five, we're really in it now."

**4/18/14:**

After months of hard work, the day had finally arrived where you were going to present your project. You weren't going to lie, it was difficult to have done this project. Having to do research on your friends, but specifically, your missing best friend was not what you expected going to this new school would be like. Nevertheless, you pushed through it all. Somehow you had managed to stop crying and stuttering every time you presented your part about Five. It wasn't a very long part, on the contrary, you had the shortest part out of everyone in your group. You repeated your speaking portion in your head as you ate your breakfast trying to become as comfortable with the words as you could before having to give your presentation today.

"Exciting day, huh?" Grace asks

"I don't know if exciting would be the word I would use." You reply pushing hashbrowns around your plate

"Well, after today you don't have to worry about this project anymore. You'll be able to put it in the past. I think that's a bit exciting." Grace replies

"I guess you have a point." you admit "This project just makes me miss the way things used to be."

Grace reaches across the table and grabs your hand.

"I miss it too, but we can't dwell in the past. We have to move forward and I'm so proud of you for doing that under such difficult circumstances."

"Thanks, Grace." You say with a smile

You thank Grace for making breakfast and get up from the table. As you start to walk out of the kitchen you hear Grace call,

"I laid out clothes for you (Y/N)," 

You nod your head and go up to your room. Laying there on your bed is a complete Umbrella Academy uniform, mask and all. You approach it and stare at it for a while. Reaching your hand out you gently run your fingers over the academy emblem on the jacket. You had never thought that you would end up wearing one of these but here you were. Changing out of your pajamas you changed into the academy uniform. Piece by piece you put it on, pulling up your socks, tying your tie, buttoning up the jacket, the works. When you finished with the uniform you turned back to your bed and picked up the mask off of it. Looking down at the mask your hands start to shake as you held it. You could feel yourself getting overwhelmed but you took some deep breaths trying to calm yourself down. Slowly you raise your hands and place the mask over your eyes. Walking in front of the mirror you stand with your back facing towards it. Closing your eyes under the mask you slowly turn around to face the mirror. You could feel yourself shake as you prepared to open your eyes. With took a few more deep breaths before counting backward from three.

"Three...two...one."

Once you hit one you forced your eyes open and looked at yourself in the mirror, but you didn't see yourself. You saw Five. There he stood in the reflection of the mirror. You stood there frozen looking at the image before. He looked the same as the day he left. You smiled at him and he smiled back. Slight tears came to your eyes behind the mask. You walked forward towards the mirror and lifted your hand pressing it against his. You swore you could feel his touch. You put your other hand on the mirror and pressed harder, if you could just grab him then you could pull him back. He could be with you again. You pressed harder and harder but with the sound of a crash, the mirror broke into a bunch of tiny pieces. Looking down at the glass on the floor you no longer saw Five, it was just a bunch of tiny reflections of you. And just like the glass, you were reminded that seeing Five again was just a broken dream.

"I heard a loud crash, are you okay?" Grace asks concerned as she quickly enters the room

You look at your hands covered in blood, tiny shards of the mirror stuck in them. Without a word you turn to Grace and show her your hands. With a sad and worried expression, she comments,

"Let's go get you cleaned up."

You walk with her to the bathroom and sit on the edge of the lid of the toilet as she grabs a pair of tweezers from the cabinet. Slowly but surely she picks out all the tiny shards before cleaning the many cuts you received. When she finishes she grabs some blue gauze and wraps it around your hands. 

"Now I really look like him," You state quietly

Grace crouches down so she is eye level with you and says,

"I'm not going to ask what happened because I'm sure it was an accident. I know days like these are tough and as I said I'm proud of you for trying to move forward in life. Please just make sure that you don't let your emotions get the best of you. Alright, sweetie?"

"Alright..." you reply

Standing back up Grace adds,

"Well, you better start heading out or else you're going to be late for school."

You nod your head and go grab your backpack from your room, carefully making sure not to step in the glass shards on the floor. As you grab your backpack you decided to take the mask off, you didn't want to wear it especially since you knew your other friends didn't have masks either. Leaving your room you make your way downstairs and out of the house heading on your trek to school. As you walk to your bus stop you can hear some adults comment on your "costume" saying stuff about how cute you were or how they didn't know kids still liked the umbrella academy. You ignored them and went on your way. You got on your bus and made your way to school. When you arrived you got off your bus and made your way to your English class. Entering the room you saw a group of six other kids in umbrella academy uniforms standing in a circle in the corner of the room. Making your way over to them you say,

"Hey, guys."

Your friends turn to you and greet you, pulling you into the circle they had formed.

"(Y/N) these uniforms are so awesome!" Dean comments

"How did you get such realistic ones?" Viktoria asks

"My guardian used to mend the uniforms for the Umbrella Academy." You reply

"Woah that's so cool!" Lucas adds

You were about to say something when the first-period bell rang. Taking a seat you sat quietly and waited to present your project. Time went on as each group presented. You despised how your teacher was going in alphabetical order of the projects. You knew it was because she was also obsessed with the Umbrella Academy and she wanted you guys to go last. You pushed through your annoyance even though it felt like an eternity before your group was called. Making your way up to the front of the class you and your friends stood in a line. Once the class quieted down Lucas spoke,

"My name is Luther Hargreeves, but others call me Spaceboy. With my ability of super-strength, I can punch, throw, and fight with more power than any normal person. As the leader of the Umbrella Academy, I make sure that the team works together and that nothing goes wrong. I once threw a man out a second-story window from the first floor. I am Number One."

"I am Diego Hargreeves and I'm Number Two. I am the coolest of the Umbrella Academy as I have the ability to change the trajectory of my knives so that they always hit their target. I even had special knives gifted to me that help make my trajectory manipulation easier. My nickname is The Kraken because I'll be crackin' skulls and I'm the best." Dean continues

"I'm Allison Hargreeves and I'm Number Three. I have the ability to manipulate anyone with my rumors. All I have to say is ''I heard a rumor'' and then what I want the person to do and they do it. After leaving the Umbrella Academy I went out to California and became a successful movie star and possibly the most famous person in the world. I'm The Rumor and no one can stop me." Addison follows

"My name is Klaus aka The Séance!" Kenny starts facing the wrong way for some reason.

When did he do that?

"Kenny wrong way, turn around." You whisper to him

Whipping around to your classroom Kenny exclaims,

"My name is Klaus aka The Séance! I have the power to commune and conjure the dead. If you don't know what that means, it means that I can talk to dead people and I can also bring those dead people back. Nobody really knows what's happened to me after I left the academy but no matter what I'm probably having fun. I'm Number Four!" Kenny exclaims

"Four members of the Umbrella Academy come before me, I'm number Five. I have the ability to jump through space and time. I was only part of the academy for a short while as I went missing in 2002. My siblings might describe me as pretentious but deep down I really care about others..." you explain

You pause for a second. Five was so much more than just his powers and his disappearance. All the Umbrella Academy were more than their powers. You couldn't speak on the others because it wasn't assigned to you but you weren't going to let this short blurb be all people ever knew about your best friend. He was missing and deserved to be remembered for more than what the world saw. As you see Bren open his mouth to start his part you continue on,

"My favorite sandwich was peanut butter and marshmallow, I ate them all the time. Every time I used my powers there was a blue aura that showed when I jumped through space. I enjoyed reading books about quantum physics. I went to Griddy's Donuts down the street from the academy a lot and would always get a plain glazed donut."

As you continued to speak you became stronger in your tone. You weren't going to let your best friend be a one-dimensional character in the minds of others. Firmly you finish,

"I am more than my powers, I am Number Five."

Bren and the rest of your friends look over at you a little confused but your presentation goes on. Bren adds,

"I am Ben Hargreeves but many call me The Horror. My ability is that in my chest is a portal to an eldritch dimension. Tentacle creatures fly out of me and I use them to grab and stop criminals from committing crimes. Unfortunately, I passed away in 2006 at the age of seventeen. Many wonder what I would be doing now if I was still around. I am Number Six."

"And I am Number Seven also know as Vanya Hargreeves. I am a little-known sibling as I was adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves but I did not have powers so I was not part of the crime-fighting side of the academy like my siblings. I am an excellent violin player though." Viktoria finishes

The class was silent before a round of applause picked up. You also smiled at your classmates before heading back to your seats. And just like that, you were done with the project. You had finished your portion and you'd never have to worry about your friends' Umbrella Academy obsession again. At least you hoped so.

**9/4/17:**

Stepping off the field trip bus you looked at the building ahead of you. The Capital West Bank. You hadn't been to this building in years. The last time you had stepped foot in it was on your 13th birthday so many years ago and you could vividly recall how much of a mess that was. Literally and figuratively. You honestly never thought you would be at this place again and yet here you were once more for a mandatory field trip for your finance class. Honestly, the mandatory trip to the bank wasn't the worst part of being here, you were very glad to not be at school for the rest of the day. It was the fact that your friends were obsessed with the Umbrella Academy and were freaking out how you were at the same place where they were introduced to the world.

"This is so cool! We're going to a historic site!" Viktoria exclaims

"My mom was actually one of the hostages when the bank incident happened. I don't recall because I was like a baby at the time but my family was part of history." Kenny explains

"Oh neat!" Dean replies

"Yeah! She's really paranoid that I'm coming here because she's worried our family is cured and it's going to happen again today." Kenny adds "I told her she was crazy though!"

"I heard that some dude's head was completely blown off that day." Bren states

"I wonder how that happened?" Addison questions

"I wish I could've been there to see it in action!" Lucas exclaims

Your eyes go wide as you think to yourself _''No, no you don't Lucas''_. You remember that day vividly, you knew how everything happened. You in particular knew how and why that one guy had his head blown off because you were the one who did it. That day was a bloodbath. You literally got bathed in blood, but this was just a school trip so you knew that everything would be fine. When you and your friends entered the bank you took a look around. Not much had changed about it, it was very nice looking with high ceilings and a balcony upstairs that worked its way around the main room. Your teacher went and grabbed the attention of the bank teller who would be showing you around. As you and the rest of your class waited you continued to look around. You saw many different people in the bank, some standing around, some going and then some coming in. As you watched the door a group of men walked in. You didn't know why but you grew suspicious. In your gut, you felt something shifty about them. This was the same feeling you had all those years ago but you tried to ignore it. Still, you cautiously watched them out of your peripheral to see what they were up to but to not be obvious about it. A bank teller approached your group and started to talk but in the side of your line of vision, you saw the group of men split up and two of them block the door to the building. The feeling in your gut grew stronger and you moved yourself to the back of the group, closer to a back hallway downstairs. Your friends were confused but they followed along with you as they knew you did things with a purpose most of the time. Within seconds of moving all the way to the back more men busted through the front door, assault rifles in their hands they shot up at the ceiling. 

"Shit, not again." You said to yourself

A commotion broke out in the main lobby of the bank. Your friends stared at the scene in shock but you knew you needed to move. You grabbed as many of your friends as you could and started to pull them towards the single user handicap bathroom. When you all were inside the bathroom you locked the door behind you. If you had a nickel for every time you were part of a hostage robbery situation at the Capital West Bank you would have two nickels, which is not a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice. You turn your attention to your friends.

"Sound off." You command

"One." Lucas says

"Two." Dean follows

"Three." Addison adds

"Four." Kenny exclaims

"Five." You state

"Six." Bren comments

"Seven." Viktoria finishes

You lean up against the door and use your powers to make your molecules denser to add extra weight so that if anyone tried to break the door down it would be too heavy. You were not going to let your friends get hurt.

"Okay, we're all here and safe," you say

"I can't believe this is happening," Addison says

"Yeah me too, I told my mom she was crazy...maybe my family is cursed." Kenny contemplates

"Guys this is not the time for this," You state "We need a plan. Now what I think is we do what we practice during our school drills, turn the lights off, and get as far away from the door as possible."

"But who is going to stop the criminals taking us all hostage?" Bren asks

"The police." You retort

"Pfft, sure. Like the police are really going to do something." Dean remarks "We need to do something about this."

"Are you fucking insane?!" You criticize

"He has a point. It's what the Umbrella Academy would do." Lucas adds

"WE'RE NOT THE FUCKING UMBRELLA ACADEMY. WE DON'T HAVE POWERS!" You yell

"You have powers." Viktoria comments

"Yes, _**I**_ do, but the rest of you don't. This superhero fantasy you guys have is not in the realm of possibility," you explain

"(Y/N) we might not have literal powers like you but that doesn't make us powerless." Addison comments

"She's right. I have my bow and arrows and that makes me dummy powerful." Dean comments

You look over at him confused,

"How did you get that shit into the bank unnoticed?" You question

"What does it matter? Bren always carries his whips on him, and you have at least four knives on your person at all times." Dean remarks

"First of all, I carry ten knives on me thank you very much," You retort "And second of all, you guys trying to stop criminals with guns is a death wish." 

"Why don't we take a vote?" Kenny chimes "All in favor of trying to stop the criminals raise your hand."

All six of your friends raise their hands. You look at them all. You knew you couldn't change their minds, this is what they wanted to do. Lucas takes a step forward and says to you,

"I understand you're concerned because we don't have powers but Addison's point stands, we're not powerless. We're not just friends, we're a team and with our combined strength we can do something to help."

"Alright." You say reluctantly "If we're going to do this though, there are two things I need to do first."

Grabbing your phone out of your pocket you open up the voice memos app and start a recording. On the voice recording, you explain,

"First of all, let it be known that the following individuals who state their names hereby consent to me saying I told you so at their funeral in the event that they pass away due to their decision to try and stop a robbery hostage situation at the Capital West Bank on September 4th, 2017. Please state your names,"

"Lucas Klein."

"Dean Hernandez."

"Addison Evans"

"Kenneth Wagner."

"Brendon Young"

"Viktoria Petrov."

When your friends finished stating their names you stop and save the recording. Taking your backpack off your back you unzipper and reach into the front pocket. You always carried these around but you never thought they would be used again. You pull the items out of your bag.

"Domino masks?" Bren questions "Did you always have these on you?"

"Yes." You reply

They weren't just any domino masks though, they were the backup masks that belonged to the Umbrella Academy. Grace had given them to you pretty early on as a way to cope with the loss of your friends. She thought that on really bad days you could lay the backup masks out and talk to them about your feelings and what you missed about each person. It did help but after a while, you stopped talking to the masks. You never gave them back though, you always kept them with you wherever you went because they brought you comfort and you never knew if you'd need them one day. And now here you were, needing them. You handed them out to your friends. Lucas received Luther's backup mask, Dean got Diego's, Addison took Allison's, Kenny got Klaus', Bren received Ben's and Viktoria had the one that Grace secretly made for Vanya. As for you, you held on to Five's backup. You all placed the mask on your faces. Looking at your friends you say,

"Now we're a team."

Making your head invisible you phase it through the door and look into the hallway to see if anyone is immediately right there. With the coast clear you unlock the door and let your friends out of the bathroom. With your friends out you say to yourself,

"Five, I know you never wanted me involved in this hero shit so forgive me for what I'm about to do."

When you walk out into the hallway you see Addison as nonchalantly as possible walk towards the main part of the bank. As she did so, you saw one of the criminals talking on a walkie talkie.

"Hey get them behind the counter," He said to some other robbers using his gun to gesture 

Addison approaches the man and stands there innocently rocking back and forth on her heels waiting for him to notice her.

"Hey get with the other hostages!" The man commands

"Are you really a criminal?" Addison asks

"What? Of course I am, now do as I say and get with the others." The man remarks

"Then prove it. Shoot your accomplice over there." She demands

"What?" The man says confused

"Prove you're a ruthless criminal like you say you are. Shoot him. Shoot him. Shoot him." Addison continues to say over and over again

The man Addison talked to turns his gun on his accomplice.

"Hey dude, what the hell?" the other man asks

The man then shoots his friend over and over again. The other man falls to the ground and accidentally shoots off rounds from his automatic weapon. The hostages of the bank scream in fear. With the patrons and criminals distracted Lucas rushes multiple criminals, lifting and throwing them around. As Lucas throws some of the criminals around Dean runs in brandishing his weapon of choice,

"Guns are for pussies, gentleman use arrows!" He exclaims loading his bow and shooting arrows towards some of the gunmen

The arrows don't miss their targets and manage to hit multiple gunmen in critical spots like the lungs, throat, and heart. After one gunman got impaled by one of Dean's arrows, the man standing next to Addison came out of his trance and realized what he had done. Freaked out, he ran away from her towards the bank counter. Noticing that there were robbers upstairs you transported yourself there to the middle of the upper balcony. You were invisible so they did not see you.

"Hey, fuckers!" You shouted revealing yourself "I don't think you should be doing this."

The men turn their attention to you.

"How did you get up here?! Get back downstairs with the others." One man commands

"Nah, I don't really feel like it, why don't you try asking me again later." You retort

The man who yelled at you start charging towards you with his gun. You stood your ground and used your power so that he would go right through you. The man stops once he has passed you. and turns around to face you.

"What the fuck." he exclaims confusedly

"I'm not like other girls." You state "I am so. much. worse."

The man points his gun at you but using your powers you turn his gun into a liquid so that all that's left of it is a pile of melted plastic and metal. He looks down at what used to be his gun before looking back up at you. Quickly you pull out some of the knives you were hiding on your body and in one swift movement, you slash the man's throat before stabbing him in the heart. Feeling a molecular disturbance behind you turn on your heel and throw a knife at another gunman who was approaching you and nail him right in the eye socket. For a brief second, you catch a glimpse of your friends downstairs. You watch as Bren uses his whips like extensions of his body to grab some of the robbers by their throats, pulling them back hard enough that their necks snap. You also see Kenny throwing some magnificent punches as he expertly beats some robbers with his hand to hand combat. You thought about that for a second, you didn't even know he could do that. You are pulled out of your thoughts though when something flies by your head. Turning around you see a gunman now stuck to the wall impaled through his chest by an arrow. You look back to the main lobby of the bank and see Dean standing there. You give him a nod to thank him and he turns back to focus on the battle downstairs and you turn back around to your battle on the upper floor. As you do you see a couple of men running up the stairs and notice some other men coming out of a nearby room. You focus on the last of the three men coming up the stairs and within seconds you're able to make him combust into flames. You hear his tortured screams as you turn your attention to the robbers now on the top-level hallway with you. 

"If you want me to stop you're going to have to kill me." You taunt

You see as one man from each side of the hallway raises their guns and starts to shoot at you but the bullets fly right through you as they hit the men on the other sides. the last man standing on the stairs side of the hall rushes towards you and you rush back. Throwing a knife at him you manage to get him right in the thigh and he starts to collapse to the ground. As he does you attempt to punch him but your hand goes through into his chest. Confused you flail your hand inside the man for a second before pulling it back out. When you do blood splatters out and you feel something in your hand. Looking towards it you see a heart. You look back towards the man and he gives you an empty look before his body collapses forward. You look back towards the heart in your hand.

"Holy shit, well that's new," you say to yourself

Feeling a disturbance behind you once more you drop the heart to the ground and transport yourself behind it. You see the one last criminal left upstairs look around for you but when he turns around you lift him off the ground and move him so he is hanging over the main floor lobby. You feel a sick sense of satisfaction as you watch him squirm on the air above the floor. 

"Put me down you bitch." He yells grabbing the attention of your friends downstairs

"Alright, if that's what you want." You say with a shrug of your shoulders

As you had done once before you make the man's molecules immensely denser and he rapidly falls down to the main floor of the lobby and becomes impaled on the flag pole.

"Ha, I'm two for two now." You comment to yourself

You quickly stop celebrating though when you see a gunman start approaching Dean. Summoning one of your knives to your hand, you immediately throw it down towards the main floor, past Dean, and nail the guy in the jugular. Dean looks back towards you and gives you a nod just as you had done for him earlier. Transporting yourself downstairs you go and join your friends. When you get to the bottom floor you hear Viktoria's voice over the PA system yell,

"DA CAPO!"

Playing music for so long you knew what that term meant. It was a musical term for start. You watched as Viktoria lifted her Viola near the microphone and started to play. The sound of sours and off-pitch notes echo through the sound system and across the bank. You watched as the criminals covered their ears in pain as the piercing sounds echoed throughout the lobby. You and your friends though had heard so many sour notes before, that these didn't affect you. Using that ability to your advantage you all start to double down on your attacks while your opponents were incapacitated. You and your friends were able to get in a few attacks but one of the robbers had found a way to cut the sound from the PA system. With the robbers regaining their fighting ability they started to move in on you all. While Viktoria tried to find a way to get the sound system back on the rest of you paired up to take on some of the remaining criminals. Addison and Lucas worked together over towards the counter, Kenny and Bren worked inside the vault, and you and Dean stayed in the middle of the main lobby floor. You took the left side of the lobby while Dean took the right. As you watched Dean fight across the room a circle of four tall gunmen surrounded you. With a smirk on your face, you said to them,

"I wouldn't come any closer."

"Why not?" one demanded

"Fuck around and find out you bastard." You answer

The men come closer and closer. You do nothing until they are practically on top of you, and that's when you act. You close your eyes and focus on the molecules surrounding you. As you clearly pinpoint the molecules of the men one of them mocks,

"We have you surrounded. Anything you want to say?"

You look up at the men with a twisted smile and say,

"Boom."

A loud explosion sound radiated throughout the building. All that was left in the spot you were standing was you covered head to toe in blood and four pairs of shoes. The men who had surrounded you were nothing but decimated chunks of flesh. Turning to your lobby partner, Dean, you see a man with a gun rushing him. You run over to Dean manifesting two of your knives in your hands. Dean aims and shoots an arrow at the man's gun sending him to his knees. As you approach Dean you yell,

"Crouch!"

Dean crouches down to the ground and using his back as a springboard of sorts you jump up and flip before stabbing both knives down into the back of the gunman.

"Neat trick." Dean comments

"Thanks." You reply

"Get back you psychos!" You hear a voice yell

Looking to where it came from you see a man standing on top of the bank counter surrounded by your other friends. The man quickly moves his gun between all of them not knowing which one to point at.

"Hey bitch, be careful up there," Kenny comments

"Yeah, wouldn't want you to fall" Addison chimes

"Get back now!" The criminal demands

As Dean makes his way to the front with the other you transport yourself behind the man and sit criss-cross on the counter.

"Or what?" You ask with a cocky smile

The man turns his attention and gun to you and starts shooting but no bullets could hit you as they all just went through you and into the desk. You sit there with a smile on your face as the criminal looks back with an expression of confusion and fear. You flash away from where you sat criss-cross and were now standing behind the man. There was now a gun in your hand that wasn't there before. Quickly disassembling it, you threw the magazine holding the bullets and the actual gun in two different directions. while you said,

"Y'know my older brother always said guns are for sissies."

Your words grab the attention of the man as he turns around to face you. With arms crossed you had a serious look on your face. The man, obviously frightened starts furiously clicking a hole-punch at you. You look down at the hole-punch before sarcastically commenting,

"Cool hole-punch fuckface."

Immediately after though you forcefully push the man's hand. The hole-punch hits hard causing a gash in his head and the man to fall off the counter. Summoning two knives you throw them at the man for good measure hitting his heart and throat. Hopping down from the counter you grab the knives but then run off to the back hallway. Your friends follow as you turn to them and command,

"Anything that has blood on it, give it to me. All weapons and masks go in my backpack."

Your friends quickly do as you say and once all your knives and dean's arrows are summoned and hidden in your backpack you tell them,

"Find the nearest exit. Act frightened if there are witnesses outside but if not run until you're out of sight. This isn't like the Umbrella Academy days where they could get away with this, we were seen on the cameras and if we don't get out people are going to start asking us questions. Got it? We'll all meet at Griddy's Donuts in 2 hours, now go."

"But what about you?" Bren asks

"I'll figure it out. Just trust me and go." You demand

Your friends all start to run down the side hallway searching for an exit. You throw your backpack on your back and rush out the front doors looking panicked trying to blend in with the crowd of other hostages. As you rushed out you heard,

"(Y/N)!"

When you heard your name called out and you saw Eudora you immediately went over to her.

"Oh my god, (Y/N) are you okay?" She asked concerned

"Yeah, I'm fine." You replied

"You're all covered in blood." Eudora comments worried "Are you injured?"

"I'm good. There's no need to worry, it's not my blood," you reply nonchalantly

You loved Eudora but you and your friends had just committed an atrocity in there and you were trying your best to not act suspicious. 

"Alright, I'm going to call Diego." She states "Come with me,"

You follow Eudora to her car but comment to her,

"Knowing him, he'll be here any minute."

Before she can even open the door to her car Diego pulls up in his and runs over to where Eudora is. He doesn't notice you and says to Eudora,

"I came as quick as I could."

"Good thing. I was just about to call you to come take care of her." Eudora replies gesturing to you

Diego then notices you covered in blood.

"Holy shit, what happened in there?" He questions

"I don't want to talk about it." You answer

"Alright, well I can't force it out of you." He replies "How about I take you back home?"

You nod your head and Diego escorts you to his car giving Eudora a quick goodbye. You wanted to get out of there and as far away as possible. Diego lays a towel down on the passenger seat and you get in. Soon enough he pulls away and you let out a sigh of relief.

"Since we're away from Eudora will you now tell me what the hell happened?" Diego asks

"I did what I had to do to stop the robbery and keep people safe." You state bluntly

"I'm so proud of you. Look at you following in my footsteps. Keep this up and maybe we can go saving the city together." He replies

God your big brother's sense of pride was weird but you still loved him anyway. Diego drops you off at the academy and tells you he'll see you again soon. Quietly you walk inside but are stopped when you hear your mom call,

"(Y/N) is that you?"

"Yeah mom, I'm back early." You reply as you walk into the dining room where her voice was coming from

"Oh my goodness, you're all covered in blood!" Grace exclaims

"Don't worry mom, it's not my blood." You reply to her

"May I ask why you're covered head to toe in another person's blood or why I heard on the news that a robbery hostage situation at the Capital West Bank, where you were today, was mitigated without police intervention?" Reginald asks sternly

"You may ask but I'm not going to answer. I'm taking a shower and then I'm going to get donuts because today was stressful and I deserve it." You state turning around and walking away

As you walk away from the dining room you hear Reginald say aloud,

"Why do I even bother with her?"

Dropping the backpack of evidence off in your room you leave and head to the bathroom. Taking a long, hot shower you rinse off all the blood on you before changing into new clothing. Once you're all dressed you grab a couple of items from your backpack and place them into a different bag before leaving the academy and walking to Griddy's. When you arrive your friends are already there sitting at a booth in the far back. Sliding into the booth you ask,

"Did you guys make it out okay?"

"Yeah, we found a window and climbed out. No one was in the back of the building so we just ran. Like you said." Addison explains

"Good. As long as you got out unnoticed," you state "I just don't know what we're going to do about the camera footage."

"Actually I have that covered." Bren comments

"What do you mean?" Kenny asks

"I hacked into the camera system and stole the footage of us fighting the gunmen. While other people may report they saw a bunch of teenagers fighting we have deniability." Bren explains

"How?" Viktoria questions

"I left the footage of us all running into the bathroom and then left the footage of us running away. With the missing footage in between, it just looks like we hid out in there and then ran out of the building when things calmed down inside. If the police come to question us we just have to say that we were all in the bathroom so we didn't see anything." Bren answers

"But what about (Y/N), she was all covered in blood," Dean asks

"I'll say that I ran out the front of the bank to find my friend who is a cop and I slipped and fell into the giant pool of blood in my panic." You answer "But you do know it's illegal for the cops to question minors without parental consent and your consent right? The best thing to do is tell your parents you're too traumatized to talk about it and that if the cops want to interview you tell your parents to say that neither of you consent."

"How did you know that?" Viktoria asks

"As I said, my friend is a cop." You respond "But anyway I know you guys and you probably enjoyed the hell out of what we did today but listen if we're going to get into this whole vigilante-" 

"Superhero!" Kenny exclaims

"Listen if we're going to get into this whole _superhero_ business then you guys are going to need a few things." You finish

"Like what?" Lucas inquires

"First of all, some more formal and intense training. What we have right now is alright but it's not the best. And god knows what would happen to you all if you had to fight someone like me, so we need to train." you explain

You reach into your bag and pull out the items that you had brought with you.

"Second of all, we're going to need to hide our identities so take these and don't lose them. My mom told me they were the backups for the Umbrella Academy so I expect you all to take good care of them." you continue handing the masks out to your friends

"This is the mask that Luther wore? Oh my god, I'm shaking." Lucas exclaims

"I'm gonna be so much more powerful with this on," Kenny adds

"(Y/N), I love you more than anything, even Lucas, thank you" Addison comments

"And third if we're going to keep doing shit like this we can't call out each other's real names. We didn't do that today but we have to make sure it doesn't happen at all, so I thought about it and I have come up with names for you all." You explain "Lucas your alternate name is Hercules for your immense strength and heroic attitude, Dean you'll be Marksman because you never miss your target, Addison your name will be Spotlight because well it's what you love but you can also put the pressure of a spotlight on another just with your words, Kenny you'll be Necrotic because you're obsessed with the dead and with your EMT knowledge you can send a lot of people there, Bren is Whiplash for the obvious reason that you use whips, really lash the people you're fighting and nobody sees you coming. And Viktoria your name will be Sonata for your knowledge of music and sound. Any complaints?" 

Your friends shake their heads no. They loved the names you had picked out for them.

"But what about you (Y/N)? What will your alt name be?" Bren asks

"Ringmaster." Dean chimes in "Because she controls everything, and she's our leader."

"Ooooh, I like that!" Viktoria remarks

"Alright, I guess I'm ringmaster then." You say with a smile

"Now we're a real team." Lucas states

"No, now we're a family." You reply


	23. The Day That Was

After Vanya had rushed out of the house you stood in silence behind the bar as you listened to Luther try to explain his ideas on what this apocalypse was all about. Moon this and moon that, all he ever talked about was the moon. You could care less for his theories though, you were still annoyed that Five was missing. Five had the same type of presence as a pair of house scissors. Randomly comes in and out of this plane of existence without rhyme or reason, never there when you want them and definitelynever there when you need them. You had no clue where he went, no clue when he was coming back, no clue what he was doing, and most of all no clue if he was safe. It hurt you that he repeatedly ignored you from what was going on in his life. Yes, the apocalypse was coming and it had to be stopped, but you were his best friend and you had no clue why he didn't want your help. As Luther continues to ramble about the moon Klaus interrupts and says,

"Hold the phone. We all died fighting this thing the first time around. Remember?"

"Klaus, shockingly, has a point. What gives us a win this time?" Diego asks

Luther opens his mouth to say something when out of nowhere a flash of blue light starts to appear. You wince in pain at the strength of the molecular disturbance that was occurring. It felt like someone was digging knives into your skin. Thankfully, the disturbance stopped, and when it did Five fell down onto the bar, some type of briefcase in his hands. You all jump backward in response, eyes shocked at the scene before you.

"Je... Jesus!" Allison calls out

Five stays laying on top of the briefcase for a second.

"You guys, am I still high, or do you see him, too?" Klaus asks

Rolling off of the bar he falls down towards the floor. Luther and Allison each take him by an arm and help him to his feet.

"Five, where have you been?" Luther asks

"Are you all right?" Allison questions

"Who did this?" Luther follows

"Irrelevant." Five answers grabbing the coffee cup out of Allison's hand

Irrelevant. You rolled your eyes at his response. Of course, it was irrelevant. Why would he tell any of you where he's been, what he's done, and if he's okay? Apparently, there was no need to inform anyone about his wellbeing at all. Five stumbles away from the rest of the group and downs the coffee he had just taken from Allison. Taking some breaths he turns to address the group. You all looked at him.

"So, the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save our world is, well, us." He says

"The Umbrella Academy," Luther adds

"Yeah, but with me, obviously. So if y'all don't get your sideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we're screwed. Who cares if Dad messed us up? Are we gonna let that define us? No. And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I've come back with a lead. I know who's responsible for the apocalypse. This is who we have to stop." Five explain condescendingly

He holds up a folded piece of paper and extends his arm out. Diego leaves your side from behind the bar and walks over to the rest of his siblings. Taking the paper from Five, Allison unfolds it and reads what it says.

"Harold Jenkins?" Allison questions

"Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?" Diego exclaims

Five finishes the last of the coffee before throwing the empty cup across the room.

"I don't know... yet. But I do know that he's responsible for the apocalypse. So we have to find him. And we have to do it now." Five states  
  
"How is he connected to what's gonna happen?" Luther asks

"I don't know." Five replies bluntly

"Wait, so you just know his name? That's it?" Diego inquires  
  
"That's enough." Five remarks

"There's probably dozens of Jenkinses." Diego retorts  
  
"Well, we just better start looking, then." Five frustratedly states

He couldn't believe how his family was acting. He had left them, gone to the commission, and risked his life to get back with this tip on who to look for and this is what he came back to? His siblings annoyed that there could be so many Harold Jenkinses? The apocalypse was in three days and it needed to be stopped. While Five was annoyed at his family, you were annoyed at him. You were done with all this coming and going of his, this lack of information that he had and the lack of information that he gave. Not wanting to deal with this or him anymore you make your way from behind the bar and start to walk towards the exit of the parlor. Five watches as you started to walk away.

"(Y/N) where are you going? We need you for this too." Five says

"Leave me alone." You reply bluntly

The rest of the siblings turn their attention to you. Walking away from the sibling huddle Five approaches you. Coming in close so that his siblings can't hear he calmly whispers,

"If this is about me leaving then just let me explain,"

"I don't want to hear it." You retort turning on your heel away from him

You try to make your way to the parlor room exit but Five flashes himself in front of you, arms stretched wide blocking your way. Why couldn't he just let you be? Couldn't he see that you were upset with him? That right now was not the time you wanted him around? That he missed that opportunity to be with you because of all the coming and going?

"Can we please just talk about this?" Five questions desperately

"No. Now get out of my way," you demand

Five straightens himself up. He knew that you were probably upset with him but he wasn't going to let this issue go unresolved. The apocalypse could wait if it meant putting a smile back on your face. Firmly he states,

"Not until we talk."

You stare intently at him. You could feel your anger and annoyance start to turn into hurt the more you were around him. You definitely didn't want him to see you like that, you just wanted to get away. Since he wasn't going to let you past him you decided to do things your own way. Walking forward you phased through him and out the exit of the parlor. You then started walking towards the foyer steps as Five realized what you had just done.

"You can't just walk through me!" He calls out

"I just did!" you call back

As you make your way to the top of the steps Five runs into the foyer after you with the siblings cautiously trailing behind. In all their time of knowing the two of you, you two had never fought. You had disagreements but they were more so friendly debate rather than legitimate arguing. This was new territory for everyone. As Five approaches the bottom of the steps, he yells,

"(Y/N) will you please just wait!"

You stop in your tracks. Did he really just ask you to wait. Slowly, you turn around as you stare him down. You could feel the hurt in your heart start to grow as salty tears started to form. Controlling your breathing, you steadied your voice. Staring him down you harshly reply,

"I did wait. I waited for five years. I waited day and night, hoping that you would come back and you did. You came back and what did you make me do? You made me wait more. And now you ask me once again to wait? No, I will not. I'm done waiting for you _Number Five_."

With that, you transport yourself away and to your room. Five is frozen in place as his siblings look towards him with shock on their faces. You had never called him Number Five. You hated that Reginald called the Hargreeves siblings by numbers and you always refused to call any of them by number because you felt that it took away their identity as a person and reduced them to just a simple ranked entity. Five knew that he had fucked up if you had broken your own rule of not saying numbers to them. He didn't care if you wanted to be alone, he needed to fix this and he needed to fix it now. Spacial jumping up to the bedroom hallway he enters the door to your room asking,

"Please just listen to me"

"Leave me alone..." you reply turned away from him

"(Y/N)..." He calls softly as he tries to approach you

Your emotions started to become less contained the more he pushed the issue. Whipping around to face him you yell,

"(Y/N) what?! What could you possibly say Five? What could you say that would make things better? Because I don't know anything that could."

He's taken aback by your sudden outburst. You were right, there was nothing he could say to make the situation better. The room goes silent as the weight of the tension buildings. You tried holding them back but slight tears start to fall. You turn away from Five and take a few steps across the floor of your room, putting a distance between you and him. You look out your window as you quietly express,

"I don't get it. We used to be best friends..."

Five dealt with many forms of pain and torture during his time in the apocalypse and at the commission, but none of it compared to this. You saying that you used to be best friends implied that you didn't think the two of you were anymore and that was more painful to him than anything. It was as if his reality was ripped in two at that moment. Taking a step towards you he reaffirmed,

"We are best friends"

You saw your reflection in the window. The tears were streaming down your face as your eyes started to become red and puffy. You watched as your lip quivered as you tried to stop the sound of cries from escaping into the air. Your felt your throat become tighter as you tried to steady your breathing. All of your preventative efforts were to no avail though because when he said those words, _"We are best friends"_ , your solid exterior cracked and your true emotions started showing through. Turning to face him once more you tried your best to get your words out. With your voice shaky you exclaimed,

"No Five! Best friends don't just run off and come back whenever they want. Best friends don't leave the person they're closest to in the dark about what they're doing and where they're going. Best friends don't hide the fact that one of you fucking died! This is not what best friends do, they don't hurt each other like this." 

Five took in the sight of you. The tear streaks reflecting in the light of the sun coming through your window. Your small figure starting to shake from your emotion. He looked you in your eyes and could feel the pain that you felt. Five did not respond to your statement, he didn't know what to say. He was overwhelmed at the pain he had caused you and angry at himself for what he had done. The frustration he felt towards himself and the predicament he put you two in only grew. With no response from Five, you grew more upset and yelled at him,

"I don't get it! Why don't you like me anymore?! Why do you keep leaving me?"

Five wasn't able to think straight anymore. So many emotions started to flood his brain. Anger that he had hurt you, frustration towards the situation, confusion on how to fix the issue, stress from all the apocalypse stuff, and his overwhelming love for you. All his emotions took over and he could barely think, let alone respond.

"WHY FIVE?!" You demanded

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU (Y/N)!"

The room goes silent. Any heightened emotion either of you had felt disappeared. He can't believe that he said that. He didn't know where that came from but there's no way he could take it back. Five looked away from you as you locked your eyes on him. Your breathing steadied and your tears dried as you processed what you had just heard. Were you hearing things or did he just say that he loves you? Taking a step forward you asked,

"Wh-what did you say?"

"I uh-" Five responds looking away scratching the back of his neck, heat rising quickly to his face

You slowly make the rest of the way over to him. Placing a gentle hand on his cheek you turn his face to look at you. Looking him in the eyes you quietly repeat,

"Five...what did you say."

He darts his eyes away and lets out a deep breath. There was no way he could play this off, he had to be honest. Bringing his eyes back to look at you he softly explains,

"I said I...I love you (Y/N). I have for a verylong time. And I know that I haven't been going about it the right way to show you that, but I've been alone for so long I've forgotten what it was like to be with others. I had to rely on myself all those years in the apocalypse, so I grew accustomed to doing things on my own. And you have every right to be upset with me but I didn't leave you out because I didn't care about you but rather because I did. You didn't just die in the apocalypse...I watched you die."

"What?" you question

Five took deep breaths as the memory of that day played in his mind. He vividly recalled the events that happened, so vivid that he felt like he was back in that moment again. His body started to shake from the memory as tears came to his eyes. Collecting himself enough he looked at you, your face full of concern. He placed his hands on your cheeks and gently held your face still wet from the tears you had cried. You could feel the shakiness of his hands as they held you. Taking a few more deep breaths he began to speak,

"When I found you, you hadn't passed away already like the others. I found you barely clinging on to life and bleeding out. I tried to stop it but I couldn't, it wasn't long after that you took your last breath in front of me and died." 

Five was having a hard time staying calm as he recalled the events from that day. His voice began to waver as he started getting choked up. He could feel the beginnings of tears falling from his eyes as he forced himself to continue,

"I held your lifeless body in my arms and screamed for you to come back. But you didn't come back. It was the worst day of my life, I still have nightmares about it. And now that I have you, it would crush me to lose you again. I couldn't lose you again. So I thought you would be safest if I didn't include you in what I was doing. My intention was to keep you from harm but all I did was hurt you and I'm sorry."

You looked at the young man before you. He had gone through so much pain in such a short amount of time. You didn't understand why he didn't tell you where he was going or what he was doing until now. It was never truly about him stopping the apocalypse, it was about keeping you alive.

"Oh Five..." you cooed as you wiped his tears away

Five took a moment to himself to calm down. With his breathing steadied he looked at your face that he was still holding in his hands. He loved you so much and at that moment he wanted you to know the extent of his feelings for you and not just the fact that he had them. Gently tilting your head up, he looked directly into your eyes. You watched as the sad expression you had seen on his face changed. There was a soft look in his eyes and a small smile on his face as he carefully pulled you closer to him and admitted,

"But I need you to know that everything I've done, survive all those years in the apocalypse, break my contract with the commission, come back to 2019 to stop the apocalypse, it's all been because of and for you. I'd do anything for you (Y/N). I'd climb mountains, I'd cross oceans, hell, I'd go through 45 years of the apocalypse and have to jump through time all over again if it meant you were waiting for me afterward. You are my raison d'etre ma amour and I am madly, passionately, deeply in love with you."

You looked at him speechless and Five looked back at you waiting for you to respond to his admission. Your lips upturned into a smile and you felt a blush rising to your face. Slowly you wrapped your arms around his neck. Looking him in the eyes you say,

"I have good news and bad news."

Five's heart started to race as he waited for you to continue.

"Bad news is I don't have a long speech about how much I love you, but the good news is that I do."

It took him a few seconds to process what you had said but once he understood his reaction was immediate. Dropping his hands from your face to your waist he pulled you tight up against him before lifting you off the ground and spinning you around. He was never one for clichés but something about spinning his love around in his arms felt right. When he placed you back down on the ground you decided to pull him closer once more and pressed your forehead against his. The two of you stayed like that for a bit engulfed in a moment of quiet rapture. The only sound was that of your beating hearts. Five pulls his head back slightly to look at you and you do the same. With your faces barely a hair's distance apart, you could feel the magnetism in the air. It was as if there was something drawing each of you towards the other. Hesitantly, your faces inched closer together until there was no space left between. You closed your eyes as you felt Five's lips press against yours. You had often wondered what it would be like to kiss your best friend but you never thought it would actually occur and yet here you were sharing a beautiful moment with your one and only love. His lips were soft and he tasted like the coffee from earlier. The kiss was new and exciting, sending butterflies to your stomach, yet there was something so natural about it. The feeling of his lips against yours felt so familiar like you were experiencing deja vu. Five felt a similar sense of deja vu but more so he felt like he was on cloud nine. He had thought about what this moment would be like since the times where his siblings teased him about it. He imagined it would be great but this, this was heavenly. If he could, he would stay in this moment forever with you, but to have more moments like this you needed to save the world first. Slowly the two of you pulled away, wide smiles across both of your faces.

"Do you think we should get back to the others?" He asks

"Yeah probably. We have to save the world after all," you respond

"Let's go then." He says leaving the embrace but extending his hand

You grab his hand and intertwine your fingers with his. As you walk out of the room and out into the hall you can see the mannequin he had with him sitting on his desk chair in his room. You stop and laugh a bit to yourself.

"What's so funny?" He asks with a smirk

"Do you think she'll be okay with this?" You reply gesturing to your intertwined fingers

Five looks into his room and sees imaginary you sitting there in the chair.

"Hallelujah! Finally!" imaginary you exclaims throwing their arms in the air. 

Five laughs a little bit to himself before replying to you,

"I think she'll be more than happy with this development."

You smile at him and the two of you continue your way back down to the parlor. Making your way inside you see the rest of the siblings in a little huddle talking amongst themselves. Five lets go of your hand and goes back to where he was standing earlier.

"We're back. Anyway, we need to find Harold Jenkins and we need to find him soon." Five states

The rest of the siblings turn around to see you two. Diego, Allison, and Luther stand in a line in front of Five while Klaus plops himself down on a couch. He doesn't look very good. Walking away from Five you go sit on the couch opposite of Klaus' as you listen to the group discuss.

"I'm sorry. Am I the only one that's skeptical here? I mean, how exactly do you know all of this about what's his name?" Allison asks aloud  
  
"Harold Jenkins. You know those lunatics in masks who attacked the house?" Five responds  
  
"Oh, yeah, I think I remember those guys." Klaus chimes in  
  
"Yeah, the ones that attacked us while you were getting drunk." Diego states annoyed  
  
"Yeah. Them. They were sent by the Temps Commission to stop me from coming back and preventing the end of life on Earth." Five explains

"The Temps what?" Allison questions confused

"My former employer. They monitor all of time and space to make sure that whatever is supposed to happen... happens. They believe the apocalypse is coming in three days. So I went to Commission headquarters and intercepted a message that was meant for said lunatics. _"Protect Harold Jenkins."_ So he must be responsible for the apocalypse." Five elaborates

You thought about what he had just explained. Those lunatics who attacked the academy worked for this commission that monitored space and time. They were trying to kill Five for attempting to change this ''predetermined'' timeline. The room was silent as you started coming to a realization. All of you looked at Five and at the same time started speaking.

"Oh my god, you worked for time assassins?" You exclaim  
  
"What do you mean, protect time and space?" Allison asked

"Where is this Hazel, Five?" Diego demanded

"What are you talking about?" Luther questions  
  
"My skin is on fire," Klaus complained

Overwhelmed, Five didn't know who to respond to first. And that's when he felt the sharp pain in his side. He winced as he placed his hand over when the pain was radiating from. While the others might not have noticed what was going on with him, you did. You didn't know what it was but you were going to keep your eye on him. Allison then states,

"Do you have any idea how insane this sounds?"

"You know what else is insane? I look like an 18-year-old boy, Klaus talks to the dead, Luther thinks he's fooling everybody with that overcoat, and my girlfriend controls the particles that make up everything in existence. Everything about us is insane. It always has been." Five angrily retorts

"He's got a point there," Klaus says laying on the couch

"Wait go back a second, your _WHAT_?" Diego asks Five, giving him a sharp look

You couldn't help but smile at what Five just said. You didn't expect it so soon but you still liked it anyway. And the look on Diego's face was priceless, to say the least. Ignoring Diego's question Five carries on with what he was saying,  
  
"We didn't choose this life, we're just living it. For the next three days, anyway."  
  
"But the last time we tried to stop it, we all died. Why is this time any different? Why shouldn't I go home to my daughter?" Allison presses him for an answer  
  
"Because this time, I'm here. We have the name of the man responsible. Guys, we actually have the chance of saving the lives of billions of people. Including Claire." Five responds  
  
"You know her name?" Allison questions surprised  
  
"I do, and I'd like to live long enough to meet her." Five replies sincerely  
  
"All right. Let's get this bastard." Allison says walking away from the bar and closer to the exit of the room  
  
"You had me at Gerald Jenkins," Digo adds  
  
"Harold Jenkins." Five corrects

Diego walks over to you and places a hand on your shoulder. He looks at you before looking back to Five and saying,

"Whatever. I've already lost two people this week, I'm not losing anyone else." 

Everyone knew what Diego truly meant with his statement. When he said anyone really he meant you. You were the last person in his life that meant the world to him. He had lost the woman he loved, he lost his mom, he was not prepared to nor going to lose his little sister too in any way, shape, or form. Getting off the couch you walk over with Diego to where Allison is.

"And Luther?" Five asks  
  
"Yeah, you go. I'm gonna stay and go through Dad's files. I still think this has something to do  
with why he sent me to the Moon." Luther replies  
  
"Seriously? Now you wanna make the end of the world about you and Dad?" Diego criticizes  
  
"No. _"Watch for threats."_ That's what he told me. You think that's a coincidence? This all has to be connected somehow." Luther explains  
  
"No, we should all stick together." Allison tries to convince him

"We don't have time for this." Five yells

"Let's roll. I know where we can find this asshole. (Y/N), Klaus, you're with me." Diego states  
  
"Yeah. I... I'm good. I think I'll, uh...I think I'll pass, I'm...feeling a little under the weather, so, uh...yeah." Klaus replies as he gets off the couch and walks out of the room

Klaus looked terrible, but you had a guess of what was going on. He was going through withdrawal. The symptoms were terrible, granted you had only seen a minor version of it with your friend Kenny when you accidentally used your powers and literally slapped him into sobriety. It must've been so much for difficult for Klaus though given the scale and length of his use. You notice as the molecular disturbance figure you regularly saw followed Klaus closely. The thought of what the disturbance might be had eaten up at you since you first noticed it and it was a shot in the dark but you wanted to try something before you didn't have a chance. You turn to the group and say,

"I'm going to grab my coat. I'll be right back."

Following Klaus and the figure upstairs you watch as they're about to enter Klaus' room. You felt you were crazy for doing so but you decided to call out,

"Ben."

You could see as the molecular disturbance stopped in place and turned towards you. You thought to yourself _"Holy shit"_. You were right. It was him. You smile, but not at a molecular disturbance. You smile at Ben.

"Take care of Klaus. I'll see you later." You add

Summoning your coat to your hand you turn around and go back downstairs.

"Did she just?" Klaus begins to ask

"Acknowledge me," Ben replies with a wide smile on his face

Once you get back downstairs Five extends his hand and asks,

"Ready to go?"

"Yup, let's head out." You reply taking his hand

The two of you head out to Diego's car with Diego and Allison trailing a bit behind. A curious look was on Allison's face while one of annoyance played across Diego's. When Diego and Allison finally got to the car you say,

"Five and I will sit in the back."

"No." Diego replies

The three of you look at Diego confused.

"You always ride passenger. A plane can't fly without its co-pilot." He continues

"You're ridiculous but alright." You reply letting go of Five's hand

With you and Diego in the front and Five and Allison in the back, you all drive off to the police station. Once you arrive Diego explains why he brought you there.

"I know this Jenkins dude has to have a record. We gotta get our hands on this file."  
  
"And your plan is to what? Waltz in there and just ask for it?" Allison asks sarcastically  
  
"I know the station like the back of my hand, sis. I've spent a lot of time inside." Diego states  
  
"Handcuffed." Allison replies bluntly  
  
"Whatever. Here's the plan." Diego continues

"Plan?" Five interjects "I'm just gonna blink in and get the file."  
  
"No, that's not...You don't know the ins and outs of this place, okay?" Diego retorts looking at Five in the backseat  
  
"I literally just did this yesterday." Five replies  
  
"What?" Diego questions

 _"My_ yesterday, not your yesterday. It'll take me two seconds. Why don't I just go?" Five says

"Listen to me. You are not going in there. I made a call. That's what a leader does. He leads." Diego finishes

Five puts his hands up and sits back, relenting to Diego's way of doing things. There was an odd tension between Diego and Five that hadn't been there before. You weren't sure what it was about.

"Alright. (Y/N), let's go." He commands

You didn't expect to be going with him but nevertheless, you nodded your head and got out of the car. The two of you made your way down the alley next to the police station. As you two stand in a hidden doorway you ask him,

"You doing okay? You've been acting odd since earlier this morning."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just worried about losing you."

"Eggo, it's going to be fine. We're going to stop the apocalypse and then no lives will be lost, including ours." 

Diego looks at you intently but before he can say anything he sees a figure pass.

"Beeman." He calls out

The two of you step out from the hidden doorway into the alley.

"Jesus Christ. You shouldn't be here." Chuck says startled

Chuck then looks over to you. He turns back to Diego and complains,

"And you definitely shouldn't be bringing her along with you."

"Did I do something wrong?" You ask

"You did not. You could never do anything wrong." Chuck replies to you

"Listen, I need to look at a file. Guy named Harold Jenkins." Diego states  
  
"No, you need to leave town. I shouldn't be telling you this, but they're looking at you for her murder." Chuck explains to Diego

"What?" you say aloud  
  
"You can't be serious," Diego adds

"Your prints were all over the crime scene. You two had a lot of heated arguments. It doesn't look good, that's all I'm saying." Chuck says looking around to make sure no one else heard

"Unbelievable." Diego states

"You didn't tell me you were the one that found her." You complain to Diego

"You would've wished that you were there and then you'd be in this mess too." Diego replies

"The only reason I'm telling you this is 'cause I know you and her used to be close. Personally, I think you're a real pain in the ass. I also know you'd never do anything like that. Just do me a favor and just stay out of sight, until I have more to go on." Chuck asks before gesturing to you "And leave her out of this."  
  
"I will. I just...I can't leave without that file." Diego explains quietly  
  
"You understand I could lose my job, right?" Chuck responds  
  
"That file, it won't...bring Patch back, but it could save some lives. I can't explain to you how, I...I just need you to trust me." Diego continues

Chuck looks uneasy as he stands before you two.

"If you don't want to do it for him, can you at least do it for me? You won't get in trouble if you say I wanted it." You ask politely

"She is beloved by this station," Diego adds

Chuck lets out a sigh before answering,

"Fine, I'll do it for you, (Y/N)." 

Chuck walks back to the station entrance as the two of you wait in the hidden doorway. When he comes back he hands you the file and says,

"Return it when you're done."

You nod your head and take the file from him. You and Diego start to head your separate ways when Chuck calls out,

"Stay safe...both of you."

Both of you nod and head away from the police station back to the car. You hand the file to Diego. Even though you were the one that got the file from Chuck you knew that Diego would look more like a leader if he presented it. When you round the corner to the car you see Allison talking on the payphone and Five leaning up against the wall of the building.

"So?" Five asks

Diego holds the file up as he says,

"You're welcome."

You roll your eyes as Allison takes the file from his hand and opens it. She scans over the pages in there but when she lands on one her eyes go wide.

"Holy shit." She exclaims

"What?" Diego questions

Turning the file around she shows the picture attached to the file. You all recognized that face.

"Harold Jenkins is Leonard Peabody," Allison says

"Vanya is with him. We have to find them." You exclaim

"He must have a house in the area, let's check there first." Five adds

"Alright, let's go then." Diego states

The four of you head back to the car and get in your seats. As Five sits down you notice as he grabs at his side once more. You were growing more concerned about it but then again he did fall right on top of that briefcase he had. Maybe he was just sore from the fall. Once everyone is ready to go Diego quickly drives off to the address listed in the file. When you arrive at his house you all get out of the car and start walking towards the front door. Allison and Diego take the lead while you and Five straggle behind. As you walk towards the front door you notice Five limping on his right side, the same side he kept holding throughout the day. You're pulled out of your thoughts when Allison says,

"Be careful, okay? We don't know what Peabody's capable of."  
  
"Yeah, he didn't seem dangerous when I first saw him. Looked kinda scrawny." Diego retorts  
  
"Yeah, well, so are most serial killers and mass murderers. I mean, look at him." Allison remarks gesturing to Five

"Thanks." Five replies bluntly

"Good point." You say with a smirk

Five looks over to you and rolls his eyes as you all approach the front steps.

"So what's this guy want with Vanya?" Diego questions  
  
"I don't know. How about we ask him after we kill him?" Five suggests  
  
"Whoa, whoa. Hey, look, I'm gonna burst through..." Diego says turning to you two

You all then notice that Allison was not with the group anymore.  
  
"You know what? It would be nice for people just to stick to..." Diego starts but is cut off by Five flashing away 

Resigned he finishes,

"the plan."

You look at him and he looks back to you,

"Great friend you got there."

You look back at your older brother and shrug your shoulders,

"Whether you like it or not, he does things his own way. It's just something to get used to." 

You watch as Diego backs up on the front porch and readies himself to run towards the door. You shake your head at him as he focuses on his entry and phase yourself through the front wall. As you stand inside near the front door you see your older brother bust through the door window and fall to the ground. He lays on the ground groaning in pain.

"Was jumping through the window really the best idea?" you ask

The others approach and Allison comments sarcastically,

"Subtle"

"How did you get in here before me (Y/N)?" Diego asks from the ground

"I phased through, I could've just let you in," you respond bluntly

"You know, the door was unlocked." Five adds

"Yeah, well, my way works just fine," Diego says as he gets up and brushes himself off "Spread out. Yell if you, uh...you know, you're in trouble."

You all look as Diego saunters off into the house.

"Ah, inspiring leadership." Five jokes

"He's really something." You reply sarcastically

"One of the greats," Allison adds

Allison turns and heads upstairs while you and Five look around the living room together. Five walks around the living room looking for any indication of something that could lead you to the whereabouts of Harold Jenkins. As he walks around the pain in his side grows stronger. He knew this was bad but they had to keep going. You needed to find Harold Jenkins and stop him or else there would be no stopping the apocalypse. Five grabs at his side to support himself as he moves about the room. While Five looks for clues you continue to watch him. He grabs at his side once more. Carefully you approach him and put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Darling," you quietly call

"Huh?" he says turning his attention to you "Oh, yes?"

"Are you okay?" You ask

"I'm alright, why?" He questions

"Well, I noticed that throughout the day you keep grabbing at your side and wincing, just like you're doing now. Also as we walked to the front door you were limping on the same side."

You were always the observant type. Five looked at the concern on your face. He didn't want to lie to you but he didn't want to worry you too much either. He had already worried you enough with his coming and going antics. 

"It's something I got when I was leaving the commission but I'm going to be okay." He replies

You raised your eyebrows at him and gave him a look.

"Are you sure?" You asked 

Five grabs your hand from your side and takes it in his. Looking you in the eyes he states,

"I swear I will be okay,"

He brings your hand to his lips and places a gentle kiss on your knuckles. When he let's go of your hand you gentle shove his shoulder and joke,

"I think you're being just a little bit of a kiss-ass right now so I drop the topic, but I'll let it slide."

"Oh thank you so much for the pardon, my dear." He sarcastically replies  
  
"Guys, you need to see this," Allison calls from upstairs

You, Five, and Diego all rush to the stairs and head up them. Seeing the attic door open, you head up those stairs as well and find Allison looking at a cabinet filled with pictures and memorabilia of the Umbrella Academy. The eyes were scratched out of every photograph and the mini-figures of them all were melted and disfigured.

"All our faces are burnt off," Allison comments disturbed  
  
"Well, that's not creepy." Diego says sarcastically before stating "This guy's got some serious issues."

Five was having some serious issues too. He started to feel lightheaded and the pain in his side grew rapidly. He shouldn't have run up all those stairs. His vision became double and his balance was decreasing rapidly. 

"This was never about Vanya. This was about us." Allison exclaims turning to the group

Five breaths in sharply. You notice as Five waivers side to side.

"Five?" you question softly

He doesn't respond though, Instead, he falls backward and practically passes out onto the floor. 

"FIVE!" You yell concerned

You immediately drop to your knees next to him. Your body starts to shake and your heart starts to race as you watch him writhing in pain. With shaky hands you gently hold his face, stroking his cheeks with your thumbs. Allison and Diego come over and crouch down as well.

"Five what's going on?" you ask, your voice breaking  
  
"Blood?" Allison quietly questions

Blood? What does she mean by blood? Carefully, she pushes his jacket out of the way and pulls his shirt up. You all look upon the sight of a horrific wound in his side with blood spilling out by the minute.

"Oh my god," you exclaim panicked  
  
"Jesus, Five. Why didn't you say anything?" Diego questions  
  
"You have to keep going. So... close." Five answers, his voice barely audible  
  
"Five. Five! FIVE!" You scream as you start to grab his shoulders and shake him

"We need to get him out of here," Diego says

"He's too heavy for us to carry him though" Allison replies

You lean over him and once more cradle his head in your shaky hands. Tears form in your eyes as your breathing becomes erratic and you start to hyperventilate. This must've been what Five felt like when he found you in the apocalypse. You feel someone grab you by your shoulders and start to pull you away. 

"No, No, NO!" You yell as you try to break out of the grasp

Quickly you are turned around by the person who grabbed you. Allison looks you directly in the eyes.

"(Y/N), he's too heavy for us to carry so if we want any chance of getting him help you need to use your powers and make his molecules lighter and you need to do it now." She explains firmly

You continue to hyperventilate as your mind races through all the possibilities of what could happen to Five, and none of them are good. Diego then grabs your shoulders and you turn your attention to him.

"(Y/N), I need you to calm down. Breathe in and out slowly and try to focus on making him lighter. You can't focus if you're distressed." Diego explains calmly

You try to calm yourself down and breathe but it's not working. You can't concentrate because your mind is so clogged with thoughts. Tears run down your face as you stutter,

"I ca-a-can't do i-it"

"Look at me (Y/N). Just breathe, you're stronger than this. I know you can do it." Diego supports

You try breathing again and slowly but surely you're able to calm down a bit more. When you have enough clarity you focus on his molecules and making them lighter.

"Try it n-now." you stutter once more

Allison wraps her arms underneath his while Diego grabs his feet. Easily they lift him up off the floor and start to make their way out of the house. No matter how stressed out about the situation you were you had to keep your focus. When you get to the car you open the back door and slide in the backseat. Taking the top part of Five's body from Allison you pull him into the back seat and rest his head in your lap. Once Allison and Diego get in the front seats you immediately drive away from the house and to somewhere you can get help for him. As Diego drives, you use your left hand to put pressure on the wound, using your powers for extra density in your hand. Using your right hand you stroked his hair. 

"Stay with me Five. Please stay with me." You whispered

As you got closer to where the academy was you could feel the bleeding getting worse even with the extra pressure of your hand. Your heart raced once more as you brought your other hand over and made it denser as well. You were not going to lose him again. Whipping into the side street next to the Academy you take your hands off of the would and use your powers to help Allison and Diego carry him again. Rushing in through the front door Allison and Diego start bringing him towards a couch in the parlor.

"We should have taken him to the hospital." Allison states  
  
"A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise some questions." Diego replies  
  
"Yeah, well, so does the murder shrine in Harold Jenkins' attic." Allison retorts

The two of them place him down on the couch and you crouch by his side.  
  
"He's still losing blood. What do we do?" Allison asks concerned

"We gotta get the shrapnel out." Diego answers

You see as something catches Diego's eye and he walks out of the parlor.   
  
"Diego, where are you going?" Allison calls out

You ignored what was going on with Diego. Your only focus was on making sure Five was going to be okay. He had to be okay, he told you he would. He swore he would. You place your hands back over the wound trying to keep as much blood in as possible. Shortly after Diego left he came back into the parlor with

"Mom?" you ask

There she was full of life once more and walking around as if nothing had happened. It was a lot to take in but you could only process so much at once. 

"Mom we need your help." You say as you lift your hands off the wound

"Oh my goodness. We need to get him to the medical room right away." Grace stated, a tone of urgency in her voice "Diego, Allison, help me carry him up there."

The three of them lift him up once more and start to carry him out of the room and upstairs. You try to follow them but as you do Grace tells you,

"Sweetie, I'm going to need you to stay down here."

"But-" You try to reply

"(Y/N), please." Grace states firmly

You let out a sigh and nod your head. You watch as they carried Five away upstairs and out of view. Your body felt heavy and you were unable to focus on anything. You turned and walked back to the parlor but the journey from the foyer to the parlor felt like it took forever. Each step was harder to move your feet forward, it was like you were walking through jello. As you walked into the room you saw the portrait of Five above the fireplace. You couldn't bear the look at it so instead, you looked down, and saw your blood-covered hands. Your hands started to shake as you continued to gaze upon the horrific red scene in front of you. Was this the last of him you were ever going to see? Would the blood of your beloved be the last remnant of his existence in your life? You tried to push the thoughts out of your head but they refused to leave. As you continued to stare at your crimson soaked palms you heard a voice ask,

"You okay, kiddo?"

You looked up from your hands and over to the voice. Seeing Diego standing there you stood up and nodded your head no. Your day had gone from, bad to perfect to horrific all in the span of a few hours' time. The emotional rollercoaster that you had been on had built up a bunch of pressure and the back and forth of repression and expression of those emotions finally snapped you. Torn completely in two you broke down and cried. You hadn't cried this bad since the first time you laid eyes upon the portrait over the fireplace. Diego made his way over to you and enveloped you in a hug, he hated seeing you like this. Sure, you two now had your mom back but Five wasn't an android. For him, this was truly life or death and for your sake, he prayed it wasn't the latter. He gently stroked your hair as he comforted you saying,

"Don't worry. Five is going to be just fine."

You looked up at your brother and asked,

"How do you know?"

"I know because he survived 45 years in the apocalypse alone, he's a fighter. But more so he spent 45 years in the apocalypse trying to get back to you. If he can fight and survive 45 years to get back here I don't think he's going to let a bit of shrapnel take him away." Diego replies 

He takes a look at your hands and suggests,

"Why don't we clean this off. It might help you feel better."

You nod your head and the two of you walk upstairs to the bathroom. You sat on the edge of the tub while Diego grabbed a hand towel from the rack and wetted it with warm water. Diego sat on the seat of the toilet and carefully cleaned all the blood away. It reminded you of how Mom cleaned your bloody hands the time you accidentally broke that mirror. Her care and compassion had obviously rubbed off on Diego. When the blood was all gone Diego looked at your hands and said,

"There. All better now." 

"Thanks, Eggo." you reply, a hint of a smile coming to your face

"Anything for you kiddo." He replies ruffling your hair

You stand up from sitting on the edge of the tub and Diego stands up as well. The two of you walk out into the hall and as you do you see Grace entering Five's room. You look to Diego.

"Go ahead, I'll catch up." He says

Carefully you walk towards his room and see him laying there passed out in his bed. Grace had his shirt unbuttoned as she bandaged the wound. Stepping through the doorway you ask,

"May I come in?"

Grace doesn't turn to look at you but you hear her say,

"Of course. Why don't you sit next to him."

You walk yourself over and sit on the edge of the bed next to Five. As you continue to watch Grace work you ask her,

"Is he going to be okay, Mom?"

Grace turns to look at you and with a kind smile she replies,

"He'll be just fine sweetie. He just needs some rest for now."

"Good." You whisper into the air

Carefully you take his hand with one of yours and hold it while you use the other to stroke his hair. From behind you, you can hear footsteps approach the room but you were preoccupied so you didn't turn to look. Diego leaned in the doorway and watched as you and Grace took care of Five in your own ways. As he watches he hears footsteps from behind him. When the footsteps stop he looks to his left and sees Allison leaning on the other side of the doorframe.

"Anything?" He asks  
  
"There's no answer at Vanya's place. And the receptionist at her music school said she was a no-show for her lessons today." Allison responds

Diego nods his head but then quickly turns and walks a bit away from the room. Allison quickly follows and stops him asking,  
  
"Hey, you okay?"  
  
"Yeah. Well...I don't know, it's just surreal seeing her." Diego says gesturing towards Grace

Allison knew better than that though. Diego had been acting weird ever since Five came back but even more so since this morning. 

"Is this really just about mom being back? Or is it also because you're not the only important guy in (Y/N)'s life anymore?" Allison questions

Diego looks into the room and watches as you hold Five's hand and stroke his hair. He takes a deep breath and looks back at Allison.

"I don't know. It's...difficult seeing her grow up. When she came back she was this small little thing and I did everything I could to protect her and make sure she was happy but the older she gets it seems like the less she needs that." Diego explains quietly

"The less she needs you?" Allison questions

"Yeah..." He answers softly as he gets choked up "And with Five being back and this whole apocalypse stuff it just feels like she's grown so much more, so much faster. I just want to keep her small so I can keep her with me. I'm just scared that I'm going to lose my little sister, that sh-sh-she won't n-need me anymore."

Diego looks down towards the ground as Allison looks at the scene going on in the room. Turning back to Diego she places a hand on his shoulder. Giving him a sincere look she replies,

"Diego, (Y/N) is always going to need you. No matter what happens or who else is in her life you're always going to be her big brother."

"Yeah?" He asks looking up at her

"Of course. Just because she loves Five doesn't mean she loves you less." Allison states with a smile

"You're right," Diego responds, nodding his head

"Anyway, it's not like you could've stopped those two from falling in love. Even as kids we knew it was inevitable." Allison comments with a smirk

"That's why we made fun of him for it." Diego jokes

"He did always made this hilarious face when he got frustrated with us. All red and scrunched up." Allison reminisces

"I do remember that, his flustered reactions were always the best part of mocking him," Diego adds with a small laugh

The two of them laugh to themselves before going quiet for a second.

"Well we can't make fun of him anymore but at least they're happy," Allison says looking at you and Five

"After all they've gone through they deserve it...I just hope they get more than two days" Diego responds

"Me too. Why don't we go somewhere else to talk about this? Give them some space." Allison suggest to him

Diego nods his head and the two of them take one last glance before walking away. After a few more minutes Grace turns to you and says,

"Alright, that should be it."

You don't hear her though as you're too focused on Five. Getting up from where she sat on the bed she places a gentle hand on your shoulder to get your attention.

"(Y/N)?" She calls once more

Surprised you turn to her and reply,

"Oh. Yes, Mom?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm done with his bandaging, I'm going to be going now. Do you need anything from me before I go? Anything you want me to bring you?" Grace asks

"Oh, no. No thank you mom, I'm good."

"Alright sweetie, then I'll be on my way" Grace replies as she exits the room

You listen to the sound of her heels down the hall as they get further and further away. Turning back to Five you see him start to move around a bit. His eyes flutter open slightly as he quietly calls,

"(Y/N)."

You sit forward and hold his hand a little tighter,

"Yes, Five?" 

"Come here." He mumbles

"I am here." You respond

"No. Come here." He mumbles again slowly moving his hand to tap on the bed next to him "Come lay with me."

You looked at him lovingly and smiled. This man had sent you on one hell of an emotional rollercoaster but you would do anything for him. Instead of sitting on the edge of the bed, you did as he asked and moved closer so you were then laying next to him. Gently, you rested your head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist but high enough that it wasn't on his wound. Carefully turning his head Five presses his forehead against yours. Five could feel himself passing out again but before he did he mumbled,

"I love you (Y/N)"

"And I love you too Five," you replied

A small smiled appeared on his face as he heard you say those words. Closing his eyes he passed out once more and for the first time in 45 years, Five would finally get a good night's sleep.


	24. Blood Is Thicker Than Water

A quiet morning of peaceful sleep was abruptly ended as the sound of a bell rang throughout the house. As it approached the bedroom hall the sound of the bell grew louder. Groggily, you and Five woke up and looked around.

"What is that noise?" You ask, sleep still evident in your voice

"WAKEY WAKEY, EGGS, AND BAKEY!" Klaus says in a sing-song voice

You and Five turn to look at each other before saying in unison,

"Klaus."

"Ugh, does that idiot ever shut up." Five complains

"He won't shut up until he's dead." You reply

"Like he'd be quiet in the afterlife" Five states

"Good point." You remark "Maybe if we're quiet he'll leave?"

"Worth a shot." Five replies

The two of you silently lay in bed hoping that the ringing would stop and he would go away. Unfortunately, that was not the case as you hear the bell ring loudly again and the door to Five's room swings open wide.

"Knock knock!" Klaus says as he enters the room "Good morning lovebirds! Aww, now don't you two look cute all snuggled up."

"What do you want Klaus." Five snaps

"Jeez, you think a good night's sleep with a woman you love would take that sour attitude away. Then again Luther was pretty grumpy-wumpy when he woke up this morning..." Klaus rambles

"Klaus. Your point." Five restates

"Oh right. Important family meeting happening at breakfast today, so you two lovebugs better get up," Klaus responds 

Turning around Klaus walks out of the room. You hear him walk down the hall, bell ringing in his hand as he exclaims,

"Chop-chop everyone, the end of the world is upon us!"

You lay back down, resting your head on Five's shoulder. Looking up at the ceiling you ask quietly to Five,

"Do you think we should actually get up? No offense, but it is Klaus."

"You're right but unfortunately he makes a good point. We still need to find Harold Jenkins and stop the apocalypse."

You let out a sigh and Five turns his head to look towards you. You look up at him as he continues,

"Once we stop this apocalypse we can stay in bed all day if we want to."

"Oh alright," You relent sitting up "I'm going to at least change into pajamas first. I want to be as comfortable as possible for whatever Klaus has in store for us."

Leaning back over to him you place a small peck on his lips before getting out of bed. As you walk out of his room you say,

"I'll see you at breakfast."

He listens as your footsteps head down the hall towards your room. Laying in his bed for just a bit longer a content smile comes to Five's face. He couldn't wait for all this apocalypse stuff to be done with so that he could start a normal life with you. Slowly, Five gets himself out of bed and switches from his bloodied academy uniform into a pair of blue pajamas. Walking out of his room he went headed downstairs to the kitchen where he saw Luther hunched over, propping his head up with his hand. He looked awful. As Klaus poured Luther a cup of coffee he said,

"Here we go. This'll fix ya up."

Five felt he needed the coffee more though. As Luther picked the cup up from the table, Five grabbed it from his hands and took a sip out of it. It was disgusting.

"Jesus. Who do I gotta kill to get a decent cup of coffee?" He complained

"Probably a hipster barista." You quipped from behind him

Walking over to the table you watched as Five places the coffee in front of him not wanting to drink it anymore. You take a seat at the head of the table, Five sitting to your right and Ben to your left. Klaus pours you a cup of coffee before pouring Ben one as well. How kind of him to consider Ben like that. You wondered what Ben had to say about this whole ordeal.

"Can we get started, please?" Luther practically begs

He looked like he was halfway to death's door. What in the world did he get up to? You watch as Five adjusts the placement of the coffee that was made before crossing his legs and leaning back in his chair. He keeps his eyes trained on Klaus while he reaches for your hand under the table. You take his hand but instead of focusing on Klaus like he was you zoned out a bit sipping from your coffee as you continued to think about how Ben might've felt.

"Anyone seen any of the others? Diego? Allison? No? All right, then, this is the closest thing to a quorum..." Klaus says as he bangs on the table with a spatula "that we're gonna get. Now, listening up. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spit it out."

"This is a bad idea," Ben said aloud

You look around confused as you choke on your coffee a bit. Where did that voice come from? You looked over in the direction where Ben was sitting. Was that him that you heard?

"Are you okay?" Five asks concerned

"Uh, yeah. Didn't realize how hot the coffee was." You fibbed

"Yeah..." Klaus responds staring at the group

"Klaus." Luther presses

"I conjured Dad last night." Klaus responds

Klaus looks nervously at his two living brothers. Luther and Five share a confused look before turning their attention back to Klaus.

"You said you haven't been able to conjure anyone in years." Luther replies

"Ah, yes, I know, but I'm sober. Ta-da! I got clean, yesterday, to talk to someone special, and then ended up having this...conversation with dear old Daddy himself." Klaus explains

"Has anyone got some aspirin?" Luther questions

"Top shelf, next to the crackers." Five answers

With a wave of your hand, the aspirin flies off the shelf and onto the table in front of Luther.

"Hey, hey, hey. This is serious, guys, all right? This really happened, I swear." Klaus exclaims

Five sits forward and grabs the coffee he did not like off the table. He takes a sip from it before commenting,

"Okay, fine. I'll play. What did the old man have to say?"

"Well, he gave me the usual lecture about my appearance and my failures in life. Yada, yada, yada. No surprise there. Even the afterlife couldn't soften a hardass like Dad, right? But he did mention something about his murder, or lack thereof, because..." Klaus explains

"Wait for it..." Ben added

Your head snaps in the direction of Ben. That had to be him but how? You didn't have the ability to hear him...did you? Five sees your head snap to your left and gives your hand a squeeze. Looking over to him he gives you a questionable look as if to ask ''you okay?''. You respond with a small nod before turning your attention back to Klaus. You weren't sure how it could be possible to hear Ben but you were going to look into it after breakfast.

"He killed himself." Klaus finishes

"Oh shit." You comment

"I don't have time for your games, Klaus," Luther says annoyed

"I'm telling you the truth, Luther." Klaus pleads

"Why'd he do it, then?" Five inquires curiously

"He said it was the only way to get us all home again." Klaus answers

Luther, although still looking very sickly, stands up from the table and takes his hood off. Looking directly at Klaus he firmly states,

"No. Dad wouldn't just kill himself." 

"Ah, you said it yourself. He was depressed. Holed up in his office and room all day and night." Five comments

"No. There weren't any signs. Suicidal people exhibit certain tendencies, strange behaviors." Luther explains to you all

"Like sending someone to the Moon for no reason?" You question

Luther gives you an unamused look before turning his attention back to Klaus.

"I swear to God, Klaus if you're lying..." Luther accuses

"I'm not! I'm not!" Klaus defends himself

The tension in the room starts to build when a voice from behind you states,

"Master Klaus is correct." 

All of you in the room turn to look at Pogo who was now standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Pogo takes a few steps more into the kitchen before continuing,

"Regretfully... I helped Master Hargreeves enact his plan."

"What?" Luther says taken aback

"So did Grace. It was a difficult choice for both of us. More difficult than you could ever know. Prior to your father's death, Grace's programming was adjusted so that she was incapable of administering first aid on that fateful night." Pogo solemnly explains

"How could you do that to Mom?" You exclaim shocked

"Sick bastard." Five quips

"So the security tape we saw?" Luther asks

"It was meant to further the murder mystery. Your father hoped that being back here, solving it together...would reignite your desire to be a team again." Pogo answers

"And to what end?" Five questions

"To save the world, of course," Pogo responds

"Oh, all right." Klaus comments in a fake cheery tone

"First the Moon mission and now this. You watched me search for answers and said nothing. Anything else you want to share, Pogo? Any other damn secrets?" Luther yells at Pogo

You can see the remorse on Pogo's face. He was ashamed of what he had done.

"Hey, calm down, Luther." Klaus attempts to calm

"No, I won't calm down. We've been lied to by the one person in this family we all trusted."

"It was your father's dying wish, Master Luther. I...I had no choice." Pogo states refusing to look Luther in the eye

Silently, Luther walks over to Pogo. Looming over him, Luther looks down on Pogo. There's a silent tension in the room. 

"There's always a choice." Luther states

With that, he walks out of the kitchen. The rest of you stay silent as you all try to take in how the situation panned out. It did not pan out well. Pogo gives you all a small nod before leaving and it is at that point that you decide you're done with this chaotic breakfast. Downing the last of your coffee you stand up from the table. The rest of the group turns their attention to you as you say,

"I'm not quite hungry so I'll be heading upstairs to the library. Open invitation for anyone to join me...although I wish Ben could be here to join me."

You see as Ben's figure turns to look at you and you stare back at him intently. Hopefully, he caught on to what you were getting at. 

"I think I'm going to head out as well. Go change into clothes that aren't pajamas." Five adds

The two of you make your way out of the kitchen leaving Klaus behind and head upstairs. Once you reach the main floor, you head left towards the parlor to look at the bookshelves, and Five heads right to go upstairs to the bedrooms. Entering the parlor you start looking for the book that might help explain what happened back downstairs. Scanning up and down you finally find what you were searching for and turn around to face the rest of the parlor. You see Ben sitting what looks like criss-cross on the floor. Walking over to him you join him on the floor you hold the book up to show him the title.

"Acoustics: The Physics of Sound. Why is she showing this to me?" Ben complains

"Because I can hear you somehow." You respond as you start scanning the book for answers

Although you only saw Ben as a humanoid figure made up of disturbed molecules you could tell he was shocked at your statement due to the way his body language changed. He sat up straight and tilted his head.

"You can?!" Ben exclaims excitedly

First, you were able to see him and now hear. You were the first person since Klaus to do so. It was nice that he had someone to talk to in Klaus but he was also so problematic. He hated seeing his brother throwing away his life with drugs...at least until a day ago. Nevertheless, being able to just be acknowledged by someone else, someone a bit more put together, but especially someone who knew him was a miracle. He had no clue how you did it but he had to know.

"How is this even possible (Y/N)?" Ben asks

"Well, one of the conditions of me living here was training my powers with your father. Since I knew I wouldn't be sent out on missions I was never reluctant to training, so I developed them quite a bit. One of the things I developed was the ability to feel and see molecular disturbances. I can see you because you're a strong enough molecular disturbance for me to do so. Although unfortunately, I can't see how you look, that's why it took me so long to guess it was you, you're just a humanoid figure to me." You explain

Ben was a little saddened that you couldn't see him in the same way Klaus did. He was just an outline of a person to you. He wished that it wasn't like that though. He wished that you could see him as Klaus did, with his physical features because then just maybe the both of you could ignore the tragedies that had occurred in your lives for a bit and just sit and talk like you used to do as kids. Although you not seeing him as he is sucked he was still grateful for what he had.

"But how can you hear me?" Ben questioned you

"That's the thing. I'm not sure of that because it just started today. The first time I heard your voice was when I was zoning out during Klaus talking. I was curious about what you thought about what was going on and then BAM I heard you speak. But...I don't get how it's in my capabilities." You explain continuing to look through the book

"Well speaking is a sound and those are caused by soundwaves." Ben rambles aloud

"Wait!" You exclaim

If there was an imaginary lightbulb above your head it would've just turned on. Quickly you flip through the book to where they talk about soundwaves. 

"I've got it." you state "Look here in the book, soundwaves are defined as the back and forth vibration of the particles of the medium through which the sound is moving through."

"And if I talk the sound of my words is moving through the air." Ben continues

"And that means the vibrations of you talking is moving through the air molecules." You add

"Which means that it disturbs those air molecules!" ben follows, his tone sounding more excited

"And I can hear those disturbances! Your molecular presence must be so strong due to Klaus keeping you with him that anything you do disturbs the molecules around you therefore I can sense it!" You finish

"This is awesome!" Ben exclaims throwing is arms in the air

"I still don't get it though. Obviously, now I know it is in my capabilities to hear you but why did it start? I mean I wasn't making any attempts to try and see if you were talking at breakfast...I just kept wondering what you thought about it all." You explain

"(Y/N), you were making an attempt! I'm guessing by you trying to know what I thought you unconsciously focused on the disturbances of my words allowing you to hear me. Do you know how amazing your power is?" Ben replies excitedly before dropping his voice low "I wish I had it..."

"No you don't" you retort

"Yes, I do." Ben states

"Now be sensible," you reply

Sure there were a lot of things to love about your powers. They were versatile, they could do a plethora of things, they were well...powerful but they had their drawbacks. You still couldn't reconstruct broken objects no matter hard you tried. If you overexerted your powers it could lead to serious consequences. But most of all you were unable to withstand strong molecular disturbances. They were painful beyond comprehension. Your body's reaction to them was to try and bring things back to equilibrium by drawing in and then redirecting thee molecules. It felt as if your body was being ripped apart from the inside out and you didn't want to know what would happen if the disturbance was too extreme. You let out a deep breath and looked at Ben. You knew why Ben would want your powers. It was because he had always despised his own, even feared them at times. Even if he never openly stated it, he felt that he was a monster. You hated that you couldn't be there for him in the years you were gone. The same with everyone else but ever since you came back you always thought that if you were around maybe his death could've been prevented. You were about to say something else to him when the front door slammed open and you saw a familiar figure run by.

"Diego?" You question as you get up before turning to Ben and saying "I'll be right back."

You follow as he makes his way upstairs to where the bedrooms were, running into the one where he was keeping his stuff. As you approach the bedroom you see Klaus and Five heading your way. Diego quickly rushes out of the room and sees you guys.

"Where have you been?" You ask

"Jail."

"JAIL?" You exclaim 

"Long story. Where's Luther?" He asks frantically

"Haven't seen him since breakfast." Five answers

"Yeah. Two days until the world ends, he picks a great time to drop off the grid." Klaus comments sarcastically

You tug on your brother's sleeve to get his attention. When Diego turns to you, you ask him,

"What is going on?"

"Allison is in danger." He replies

"We need to find Luther and get to her." You state looking at the boys

The four of you rush downstairs and as you pass the parlor you wave for Ben to come with you all. Heading to the car Five jumps in the front seat and you take the passenger side while the others get in the back. As Five starts to pull out of the side alley where the car was parked he asks,

"Where do you think he could be?" 

"Well if I was a newly depressed grump I'd find the nearest bar." Klaus answers

"There's a pub not too far from here. Just a block or two away." Diego states

"Let's check there then," you say

Diego gives Five directions to the place and once the car is parked you all get out and head to the entrance. As you get up to the door Klaus looks in and says,

"Look!"

And there he was, hunched over a table with a pint of beer. You all head inside and approach the table where he was standing.

"Trying a little hair of the dog, are we? Hm?" Klaus comments as you approach his table

Luther looks up at you all for a second before turning back to his drink and saying,

"Leave me alone."

"Give us a minute," Diego asks 

"Okay. Come on. Maybe they'll brood each other to death." Klaus mocks as you walk to the side of the bar and away from the two

You watch from afar as Diego takes a seat at the table with Luther.

"Look, Dad was wrong to lie to you. To all of us." Diego states

"Look, I did my time. All right? Four years up there, watching and waiting because he said the world needed me. Four years of nothing but soy paste and processed air because I was naive enough to believe that dads don't lie to their kids." Luther complains "But guess what? The joke's on me. I'm done. With all of it. With him. With you. With this family. You wanna save the world, you go right ahead. I'm fine to sit here and finish my beer and...get my... buzz on."

"You want to turn your back on me, (Y/N), the guys, that's fine. But Allison deserves better than that." Diego remarks

"Allison? What are you talkin' about?" Luther asks, his attention caught

"Well, we got ahold of Harold Jenkins' police file. Turns out Vanya's boyfriend is a convicted murderer. Who would've saw that coming? A little hard to trust anyone who wears corduroy." Diego explains

"Wait, so... where's Allison now?" Luther questions

"She decided to go after Harold Jenkins. Alone." Diego finishes

Luther jumps up from the table and exclaims,

"You should have led with that! Jesus Christ. Shit."

All of you now rush out to the car once more. You and Five resume your original spots in the passenger and driver's seats respectively while the others sit in the bak. Diego takes the seat behind you and Luther takes the seat behind Five while Klaus sits in the middle of the two with Ben in his lap. You smirk at the sight of Ben sitting in Klaus' lap but say nothing of it. Five starts the car up and takes off heading towards Harold's grandmother's cabin. You had been driving for a while trying to get to this cabin in the woods when Luther leaned forward and asked Five,

"Hey. Can you go any faster?" 

"Ask me again, and I'll have my girlfriend burn you." Five firmly replies, his eyes not leaving the road ahead

Luther looks over to you as if asking for your help. You look back at him and reply,

"I've got a hang on combustion but I've been meaning to practice disintegration. No time like the present, right Luther?" 

Unsatisfied with the responses he got and a bit frightened by the possibility of you turning him to dust he leans back into his seat. As he does Five presses his foot on the gas a bit more. He didn't like to show it but you knew how much he cared about his siblings. The day had turned to night by the time you reached the cabin and before five could even fully stop the car the rest of the crew was jumping out of the car seats. Luther took the front running up to the cabin, quickly followed by Klaus, Diego, you, and Five. Busting the door open Luther sees Allison laying on the ground, her throat slit and bleeding out. Quickly, he makes his way over to her, dropping to his knees and picking her up in his arms. Klaus enters after him and is shocked by the sight. He places one hand on Luther's shoulder and one over his mouth, unsure of what to say or how to react. Diego enters next but quickly extends an arm out to try and stop you from seeing the sight. It was too late though because when you saw the sight you let out a fearful scream and quickly turned towards Five. Wrapping your arms around him you buried your head in his chest trying to get rid of the image from your mind. As Five held you he looked at the scene before him before looking to Diego. All you watched as Luther cried into Allison's chest, rocking back and forth as he held her.

"Allison! Oh, my God. Allison." Luther choked out

Luther held her as tight as he could. He should've been there sooner. If he was here this wouldn't have happened. And as Luther cried, holding a bleeding Allison in his arms, the words that Five had said to him only a few days ago echoed in his mind.

"You know nothing of loss. When you find the person you love most laying helpless, bleeding out, and barely clinging on to life maybe then you'll know."

Five was right. He didn't know what Five had gone through. He didn't understand how much the loss of (Y/N) had damaged him until now when he saw Allison laying helpless, bleeding out, and barely clinging on to life. He wished he didn't have to know this pain but this was the reality of the situation. Something had to be done and fast. Luther quickly whipped his attention to you. A sorrowful look in his eyes he said,

"(Y/N) please you have to reconstruct her throat"

You lifted your head out of Five's chest and looked to Luther, trying your best not to see Allison in that state.

"I- I can't...It's outside of my capabilities." you stuttered out

"You deconstruct and reconstruct yourself and other objects all the time!" He yelled, the pain evident in his voice

"I only know how to reconstruct whole objects! I've tried putting broken things back together but it never works. If I tried I could end up killing her." You explain

"We need to get her back to Mom." Diego states

Luther nods his head and picks her up in his arms. Quickly, all you rush out to the cars, the one you drive here in and Diego's car which Allison had taken. Klaus and Luther get in the backseat of Diego's car to take care of Allison while Five gets in the driver's seat. You were still shell shocked from the sight of someone you knew being so gravely hurt. Diego looks at you before calling out,

"Kiddo c'mon we have to go!"

"I'll drive the other car back." You quickly reply

"(Y/N) are you sure? I can have Diego drive and I'll come with you." Five suggests

"No. Give me the keys and you guys go. As a family." You state

"But you are family, (Y/N). You always have been..." Five replies softly

You want to say something back but you don't have the words to do so, so you stay quiet. Five looks at you concerned as you hold your hand out for the car keys. Reluctantly, he hands then over to you and you head over to the driver's seat of the other car. Diego and Five continue to stand outside the car looking towards you.

"GO!" you yell at them

The two of them take one final glance before getting into their car and speeding out of the driveway. You watch them go and when they're out of sight. You take a deep breath before getting into the driver's seat of the car. Starting the car, you back out of the driveway and away from the cabin trying to forget the mess you had seen. The car full of Hargreeves' was too far ahead for you to see it at this point so all that was around was you, the moon, and an empty road. You tried to focus on the road ahead of you but the images of all of those who had been hurt in the past week flashed through your mind. Mom being shut off. Eudora, who was shot in the head. Diego getting shot at and hit in the arm. Five bleeding out from a shrapnel wound. Allison's throat slit and bleeding. They all flashed in your mind over and over and over again. The speed at which they flashed grew more rapidly. Your breathing started to become heavy and you pulled the car over to the side of the road. Getting out of the driver's seat you stepped outside into the cold night air and sat on the hood of the car. Placing your head in your hands you screamed over and over,

"Make it stop. Make it stop. MAKE IT STOP!"

You were tired of the pain and the blood and the loss. You couldn't take it anymore. You had been through so much this past week and there was never time to process. So now here you were on a darkened road being forced to cope with all you had seen. You took shaky breaths as you started to sob alone. At least you thought you were alone. You felt a molecular disturbance on your shoulder and soon after a voice that said,

"It's going to be okay."

You looked towards your right and saw the figure of Ben sitting there in the car with you. You wiped some tears from your eyes as you processed his presence in the car.

"Ben? What are you doing here?" You ask between sniffles 

"I know what it's like to have messed up stuff happen before your eyes." He replies kindly "I thought you could use a friend."

"All of this is so messed up Ben. So many people I care about have gotten hurt and the images of what happened to them replay through my mind no matter how much I try to push it away. There's just never any time to grieve...there never has been." You explain to him

"I know Diego is struggling with the loss of that detective you were both close with, I can't imagine how hard it is on you." Ben comforts

"No, it's not just Eudora...It's everything. I've cried about all the things I lost but I never properly grieved them. The loss of my parents, friends, you, Five, everything. I couldn't bring myself to face it all so I just built myself a new life and never took the time to focus on what had occurred. But now the world is going to shit and I have to deal with all of the old and new at once." You elaborate 

You look down at the ground before hopping off the hood of the car. You take a few steps forward before looking up at the stars. Some stray tears fall down your cheeks as you say into the crisp night air,

"I just want to be there to help your family."

You feel a molecular disturbance on your shoulder once more. Turning around you see Ben's figure standing there in front of you. He places his hands on your shoulder and looks directly at you before saying,

"(Y/N), it's not just my family, it's your family too. Five was right when he said that you always have been. You might not bear the Hargreeves last name but you were always one of us and you still are."

You look up at him. You couldn't see his face but you imagined that if you could he would have that kind smile that you remembered from when you were kids going across it. 

"And don't think that you haven't helped us. You've done so much for this family. You helped to show us that we were more than just our father's powered up super-soldiers, that we were individuals who were deserving of care and appreciation. Our father made us a team, but it was you who helped us become who we are."

You take a step forward and as best as you can, you wrap your arms around Ben. Slowly, Ben wraps his arms back around you. This was the first time that he was hugged in years. He couldn't remember the last time someone held him. It was unclear who needed this hug more, you or Ben, but either way it the best thing for both of you at the time. As the two of you stand there in the shared embrace Ben says to you softly,

"You are not alone in this (Y/N), you never have been and you never will be."

You continue to hug him for a second before pulling back at looking at him. 

"Thank you, Ben." You quietly reply

"No, thank you."

"Alright, let's get going." You state as you head back to the car

Entering the driver's seat you buckle up and look at Ben's figure in the passenger seat. As you start to drive off into the night again you suggest,

"Now, why don't you catch me up about the years I missed."

Ben let's out a small laugh before remarking,

"Oh boy where to start?"

______________________

Five hadn't wanted to leave you at the cabin but you were adamant about driving the other car back home. He had sped off into the night as he rushed to get Allison to Grace but every now and then he looked in the rearview mirror to see if you were behind. When he finally pulled up to the house he immediately shut off the car and jumped out commands,

"Come on! Let's go!"

Carefully, Luther and Klaus grabbed Allison from the back seat and started to carry her inside. 

"I don't think she's breathing," Luther commented worriedly

"If we don't get her upstairs, she's gonna die!" Klaus exclaimed

The Hargreeves boys hurry their way up to the medical room of the house and place Allison on the table. Diego runs out of the room to get Grace and Pogo as Five held a cloth over Allison's severed throat trying to keep the blood in. In no time at all Diego made it back with Grace who then examined Allison. Grace turns to the group and explains,

"She's suffered a severe laceration to her larynx. One of you will need to give blood."

"I will." Five and his brothers all reply

"I will. I'm doing it." Luther says starting to roll up his sleeve

"I'm afraid that's not possible, dear boy. Your blood is more compatible with mine." Pogo explains

"Hey, don't sweat it. I... I got this, big guy. I... I love needles." Klaus says patting his arm as he walks over to Grace

"Master Klaus. Your blood is...How shall I say this? Too polluted." Pogo explains

"Move. I'll do it." Diego states pushing Klaus out of the way

When he makes his way over to Grace she holds up a needle to draw the blood out. Once Diego catches sight of the needle though he immediately collapses to the ground. He was never a fan of needles since the day their dad forced them to get matching umbrella tattoos. As he laid passed out on the floor Pogo commands,

"Stick him."

Grace draws the blood from him that she needs and when she finishes the rest of the boys help to carry Diego out of the med room and to a bed in a nearby room. After they place him on the bed Klaus says,

"Well, I'm going to bed. See ya."

Before anyone can say anything to stop him, he makes his way out of the room. Five looks at the doorway Klaus left through and starts to walk out himself as well.

"I'm going to go wait for (Y/N)." He states

Five leaves the room and starts to walk down the hall towards the front door when a voice calls out behind him,

"You were right."

Turning around to see Luther standing there Five asks,

"Of course I am but what are you referring to?"

"When you said that I didn't know the pain you went through when you lost (Y/N). You said I wouldn't understand until I found the person I love most laying helpless, bleeding out, and barely clinging on to life...and now I did, so you were right." Luther replies

Five throws his hands into his pockets as his mind recollects the conversation he had with Luther only a few days ago. In most cases, Five loved being right, but this was not one of those times. He looked up at his heartbroken brother and solemnly said,

"I wish I wasn't right. I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone, not even my worst enemy."

The two brothers stand silently in the hall, a heavy feeling looming over them. Unbeknownst to the rest of the house you and Ben had made it back.

"I'm going to go check on Klaus," Ben said before disappearing away

You look around the main floor to see if anyone was there. Not seeing anybody you call out into the silence of the house,

"Five?"

Upstairs both Luther and Five hear you call out to him. Five looks to Luther who gives him a nod to go. With that Five flashes away and downstairs to where you were. When you see him flash in front of you, you make your way over to him and envelop him in a hug. Today was a long day and you thought it was something you both needed. 

"You okay?" Five asks as he holds you

"Yeah. I'm doing okay." You respond as you pull back from the hug "How is Allison?"

"I don't know." Five states "Grace just started doing work to repair her throat."

You looked at him, a mix of concern and fear on your face. Allison had to make it, you couldn't lose another person. You couldn't lose a member of your family. Five could see the terrified emotions on your face. He wanted to do something about it but didn't know exactly how to fix it. He was willing to try though. Grabbing your hand he walked the two of you over to a couch in the parlor. Gently, he sat you down next to him and pulled you close so that your head was resting on his shoulder. You wrapped your arms around his waist and looked up at him while you listened to the beat of his heart. His face looked calm and collected but his heart was beating like a drum. You held him a little tighter as the two of you sat in silence. And as the clocks in the house struck 12, and their chimes echoed throughout the halls, reality set in. There was one day left to stop the apocalypse.


	25. Ash and Dust

Neither you nor Five slept as you sat on the couch. The horrors you had been through this past week flashed across your eyes every time you closed them and for Five, the lack of time and knowledge on how to stop the apocalypse ate away at him with each passing minute. With the dawn of the final day upon the group, something needed to be done. The night turned to day, and Five thought about what to do next with so many unknown variables. As he did so the sound of steps came down the stairs and Diego walked into the parlor. 

"Hey, you're finally awake." You comment to Diego sitting up

"Did you have a nice rest, Sleeping Beauty?" Five ask with a smirk

"Ha. ha. Very funny." Diego retorts sarcastically before stating firmly "Listen, we need to discuss a plan."

As Diego says that he spots Klaus out of his peripheral. Grabbing his attention he commands,

"Klaus get in here."

Klaus was caught off guard as he was lost in his thoughts. Ben had just punched him in the face and it actually landed. His sobriety was difficult but having to deal with his powers re-emerging and his lack of understanding of them was even harder. He didn't even realize people were in the parlor until he was called by Diego. Making his way into the room he sat on the couch across from you. Bringing his knees up to his chest he bit his nails and fidgeted as he sat. As the rest of the group discussed, he zoned back out, overwhelmed by everything happening. 

"The bastard that nearly killed our sister is still out there, with Vanya. We need to go after her."

Five gets up from the couch and limps a bit to position so that he is facing Diego. He was still sore from the shrapnel would only two days ago. How could he not be? He was so good at pushing through his pain, it was almost impressive. You wish he didn't have to though, hopefully, once all this apocalypse stuff is over he could finally rest. 

"Vanya is not important." He states

You look at him confused. Vanya wasn't important? She was walking around with a murderer. You had to get to her and quick.

"Hey, that's your sister. A little heartless even for you, Five." Diego retorts

Five looks to you and you nod your head in agreeance with Diego. Looking back to Diego, Five explains,

"I'm not saying I don't care about her, but if the apocalypse happens today, she dies along with the other seven billion of us. Harold Jenkins is our first priority." 

"Well, then we better head out. We're burning daylight." You say as you get up from the couch

"I agree. Let's go." Diego adds

"You guys count me out." Klaus chimes in as he fidgets on the other couch

The three of you look at him confused. 

"I mean, you know, no offense or whatever. It's just... I kind of feel like this is a whole lot of pressure for newly-sober me, so..." he continues

"You're coming." Diego demands

"No, no, no. I mean, I think we can all agree that my power's...I mean, it's pretty much useless.  
I'd just be holding you guys back." Klaus finishes

"Klaus, get up." Five commands unamused

"You can't make me." Klaus retorts

Without hesitation, you and Diego both throw knives in his direction. Diego's land in the cushion of the couch just below Klaus' crotch while yours was stopped midair right between his eyes.

"Oh, then again, a little exercise couldn't hurt." Klaus relents

"Let's get going then." You remark

You walk over and grab the knife from in front of Klaus' face and Diego grabs his out of the couch. Holding on to Five you help him with his limp out to Diego's car while Klaus and Diego follow behind. Once all of you are in the car you start it up and head over to the first place to check for Harold and Vanya. Harold's house. Carefully, you all get out like you had the last time but instead of breaking in, the door was once again unlocked. Pulling the sleeve of your jacket down you use it to turn the doorknob as to not get any prints on the door. When you all enter the house you walk into the living room but before you could devise a plan to look around you see a sight you did not expect. Harold Jenkins laying bloodied and dead on the floor, impaled by knives, scissors, woodworking tools. Anything that could be used to impale was impaled. The four of you approached the body and stood in a line looking at it. Placing his hands on his knees, Klaus leans down to look at the dead Harold Jenkins.

"It's not exactly what I was expecting." Klaus mumbles

"The understatement of the year." Five replies bluntly

"There's no sign of Vanya, maybe she got away." You suggest

"Let's get out of here before the cops come." Diego adds

"Yeah, we need to get out of another crime scene before you end up falsely put away for life." You comment 

You grab Diego by the arm and start to walk out with Klaus following behind but stop when you hear Five say,

"In a minute."

What could he be doing that he needed to keep you all here longer? Turning back around, the three of you watch as Five approaches the body and crouches down next to it. Pulling something out of his pocket he then removes the medical eyepatch that was placed over Harold's left eye. Diego covers his mouth with his hand as he questions,

"Come on, Five, what are you..."

He doesn't finish his statement though as Five sticks a glass eye in the empty eye socket of Harold Jenkins.

"Ugh, wow." Klaus says disgusted as he leans over Five's shoulder

You couldn't agree more with Klaus. You and Diego crouch to lean over the body as well when Five exclaims,

"Same eye color, same pupil size. Guys this is it! The eye I've been carrying around for decades, it...It's found its rightful home."

Five then quickly removes the eye from back out of Harold and pockets it once more.

"We got the guy we needed to kill to stop the apocalypse." Diego states

"Yay! Let's go." Klaus encourages as he starts to walk away

You and Diego both grab the back of his shirt to stop him as Five gets up from crouching on the ground. 

"No, no. Wait, wait. It can't be this easy." Five states pulling out a piece of paper "Look, this is the note that I got from the Commission. The one that says, Protect Harold Jenkins, aka Leonard Peabody." 

You all look over the note and that's exactly what it says. Protect Harold Jenkins. There was nothing more to it than that.

"Yeah?" Klaus questions

"But who killed him? Who did this?" Five asks pointing to the body

"I have a crazy idea. Crazy, but why don't we find Vanya...and ask her what happened?" Klaus suggests

"If Vanya got away from this asshole, she might be headed back to the Academy." Diego adds

Diego and Klaus start to make their way out of the house but you linger a bit with Five.

"Do you think this is it? Am I overreacting?" Five asks

You look towards the body of the newly deceased Harold Jenkins, something felt off about this whole situation, this place felt disturbed in a way that it didn't two days ago. You had no clue what it was that made you feel this way but the proof was in the pudding. The man who needed to be protected was dead.

"I don't know. Something about it feels off like it's too good to be true but if he was the last unknown, then this quite possibly could be the end of this all." You say as you look back at Five "We should definitely ask Vanya though."

Five nods and the two of you head out to the car and make your way back to the academy once more. When you all arrive back you split up to look around the house. Klaus taking the main level and downstairs floor while you, Five, and Diego split up looking at rooms on the upper levels. She was nowhere to be found though. Defeated, you meet back up with Five and Diego and head towards the stairs where you find Klaus coming up them towards you. As you approach Klaus, Five comments,

"No sign of Vanya."

"She's not in any of the rooms." You add

"She's not downstairs, either," Klaus responds

"Well, I'm out." Diego states

"Wait," Klaus says

"Diego?" You question

"Where are you going? Vanya's still out there, and so are Hazel and Cha-Cha." Five explains

The three of you look at him confused. He was going out with Vanya still missing? It was not too long ago that in the parlor he was the one adamant to Five that we needed to find Vanya.

"I know. I'm gonna get my things and then I'm outta here. I got some unfinished business with those fools." Diego responds

Not this again. You were upset with what had happened to Patch too. You were still dealing with the pain of what had happened and you knew Diego was too but this wasn't what was most important right now. Diego started to walk down the stairs and you were about to say something when a voice called,

"(Y/N)"

You and Klaus both turn and look to see Ben there. His figure waves for you to follow him. Turning back towards the other two you say,

"I'll be right back." 

Walking away from them you go and follow Ben down the hall. Five watches you walk away before turning to Klaus and asking,

"Hey, did Dad say anything about the apocalypse when you spoke to him? Any clues as to how it happened?"

"No. No clues. Truly terrific shave. But no clues." Klaus answers

"Jeez." Five says annoyed

Five walks away from Klaus and makes his way towards the stairs. As he starts to head down them Klaus follows and adds frantically,

"You know, come to think of it, he did mention something about my potential, and how I've barely even scratched the surface of my..."

"How did he know about the apocalypse?" Five questions

"I don't know, but listen. This whole jumping through time thing of yours, how did...How did you know how to do that?" Klaus questions back as they make it to the main foyer

"I didn't. You'd realize that if you were actually sober." Five retorts as he starts to walk away towards the parlor entrance

"Hey, I am sober. I've been sober for two...almost two days now!" Klaus exclaims

"Yeah, two days." Five states sarcastically

"It feels like 45 years." Klaus complains

Five stops in his tracks and turns to look at Klaus,

"Who are you kidding, Klaus? I've seen you fidgeting all day."

"Well, I guess we're both fighting our addictions, then," Klaus replies making his way over to Five

"I'm not an addict." Five bluntly states

"Yeah, you are. You're addicted to a drug called the apocalypse." Klaus explains

"You're wrong." Five denies, angered by his brother's accusations

"First sign. Denial." Klaus states

Klaus turns away from his brother to walk away but Five spacial jumps in front of him. He was wrong, Five didn't have an addiction. He was trying to save the world! Klaus only cared about getting high so Klaus' accusations were wrong.

"You and I, we're not the same." Five angrily yells 

"I've seen that look in the eye of someone who doesn't know who they are without their high anymore. Trust me. You gotta just let it go." Klaus describes

Anger boiled up inside of Five as his brother told him to let it go. 45 years of his life was the apocalypse. Surviving in it. Trying to figure out what happened to cause it. Putting a stop to it. It was all he ever knew. How could he just let it go? As Five seethed with rage he threw the glass eye he had carried for so long at the wall. How's that for letting go? Five quickly hobbled away from his brother into the parlor. He needed a drink. Flashing up quickly to his room he grabbed Dolores and put her on the bar before starting to make margaritas.

You on the other hand had followed Ben down the hall towards the bedrooms. He was a bit ahead of you but he stopped in front of a door. When you got over to him you realized this wasn't just any door. It was the door to his bedroom. You had no clue the last time it had been opened. The door was closed the first day you arrived in the future in 2013 and no one had touched it during the time you were here. Ben's figure turns to look towards you.

"Follow me."

You look at him unsure. You hadn't entered his room since before you went missing, you barely even remembered what it looked like. He must've sensed the unease you felt because Ben added,

"Please."

You took a deep breath and reluctantly nodded. You reached your hand out to the door handle and gently turned it. Because the door hadn't been opened in so long it took a little force to try and get it to open but once it did you stepped in you took in the sight of his room. Nothing had changed about it. Plain blue walls, a desk, a closet, a bed untouched and perfectly made. There were stacks and stacks of books with a light layer of dust on top of them. It reminded you of your room in your old house across the street, frozen in time and haunted by the memories of what it used to be. You and Ben are both silent for a bit before you turn to him and ask,

"Why are we here Ben?"

"I wanted to give you something." He replies

Ben's figure then walks off towards his desk and stands by it. Turning to look back towards you he says,

"It's in the top right drawer."

You make your way over to the desk as well and open the top right drawer. You try to pull it open but it won't budge. 

"Oh right, I locked that drawer." Ben comments "It's been 17 years since I've been able to open it I kinda just forgot that it needed a key."

"Do you know where it is?" You ask

"I think I kept it stuck to a magnet underneath the desk." He replies

You reach your hand on the underside of the desk and feel around for the key. You were having trouble with finding it though so you moved to sit under the desk to see if you could find it. Once you sat under the desk though you were intrigued by what you saw on the underside. There were a plethora of tally marks but no stated reason why, a couple of book quotes, and the beginnings of what seemed like poems. You then spotted the key stuck to a magnet on top of a drawing but you couldn't quite make out what it was. When you pulled the key off the magnet you were surprised at the sight of a heart with initials written inside it. You didn't dwell on it though.

"Did you find the key?" Ben asked

"Yeah, I got it!" You reply coming out from under the desk

Standing back up you insert the key into the locked desk drawer and turn it. You heart the click of it unlock and finally pull the drawer open. You carefully pull a book of sorts out and wipe the dust off of it. Once the dust is gone though you realize this isn't just a book, it's the journal you gave him for his 13th birthday. You turn and look at him shocked.

"Ben, this is the journal that I gave you." You state surprised

"I know. I want you to have it." He replies

You can feel the molecules of his hand attempt to push the book towards you. 

"I can't take it. It's yours, no one is supposed to see it but you." You explain

You try to push the book back to him, not like he could grab it but it still was his gift. Even when you were all 13 he didn't show it to anyone and that was fine. The journal had his most private thoughts and feelings so you never wanted to intrude on that. You could feel as the molecules of his hand attempt to push the book towards you once more.

"I have no use for it anymore (Y/N). I can't grab it, or open it, or write in it. There's no point in me hanging on to it." He replies

"But why do you want to give it to me?" You question confused

"Because I know you'll care for it in the same way that you have always cared for me. You were there for me everyday both when I was alive and after I was gone and I know that if anyone is going to take care of this journal, it's the person who gave it to me in the first place." He replies 

You could hear the sincereity in his tone. This journal truly meant something to him and he wanted you to have it. You couldn't refuse at this point and brought the book back closer to you. You were going to take care of this journal even if your life depended on it because it's what Ben deserved.

"I'll go display it somewhere safe." You tell him

"You can read it y'know." Ben comments "I always knew I was going to share it with you but I just never thought it would be under these circumstances."

"I'll take a look at it now then." You reply with a smile before turning to walk out

"Hey (Y/N)?" Ben calls out

You turn back around to look at him.

"Yeah?" You question

"Thank you for caring. It always meant a lot to me." He states

"That's what family is for." You state kindly "Y'know what, why don't we read it together?"

Ben nods his head and together you sit down on his bed and open the journal. You read aloud the words on the page with Ben chiming in every now and then to give me context or detail to what he had written. As the two of you sat there and read, Ben let go of the negative feelings he had held onto for years, and for once he felt content. Downstairs in the parlor, Five had finished making his margaritas and had dished them out to both Dolores and himself. As he sat there drinking he asked,

"Do you think we really did it? Think we actually stopped the apocalypse?"

"I'd assume so. The mark is dead, the house is standing, everyone is alive. I think we did it but the real question for you to decide is now what? What comes next for you?" Imaginary you asks as you sit on the bartop

"Now what? I don't know. I'm open to suggestions." Five replies

"Maybe you finally let go of me and start living the life you always wanted with the real (Y/N). Fall in love, grow old, live a lifetime with her. Just as you did with me." Imaginary you suggests

Five was about to respond when a knock came at the door. Five looks to imaginary you as if they could get the door.

"I can't move nor actually interact with objects, remember?" Imaginary you mentions

Five looks in the direction of the foyer where the door is before replying,

"I'll get it."

Getting up from his bar seat, he grabs his margarita and heads to the door. When he opens it he finds Hazel there pointing a gun in his direction.

"Hey, old-timer." Hazel greets

Five looks at Hazel blankly. Nonchalantly, he asks,

"Do you have my sister? And if not, would you like a margarita?"

Hazel looks confused at the proposition Five had just given him. Not wanting to wait for a response Five turns and walks back to the parlor telling Hazel,

"Come on."

Still confused, Hazel makes his way into the house and follows Five into the parlor. As Five sits back down on his bar seat facing Hazel he inquires,

"You here to kill me?"

Oh. Shit. Sorry. Old habits." Hazel replies putting his gun away "I can understand why you might feel that way, you know..."

"Well, you attacked our house, tried to kill my family, and kidnapped my brother." Five bluntly states

"Well, there's not much I can do about the past. I'm not the only killer in this room. You got your own bloody history, pal. Speaking of which, that job you did in Calhoun, that shit's legendary. Can't believe I'm actually sittin' here talkin' to you, after all." Hazel compliments

"Hazel, why are you here?" Five questions him

"Well, I'm, you know..." Hazel starts but is cut off by being kicked in the back by Diego 

As Hazel falls to the floor, Five exclaims,

"Diego, stop!"

Diego didn't listen though as he did a flip over Hazel followed by kicking him in the face two times. Anger coursed through his veins as he took out ever bit of resentment on Hazel. Throwing punches Diego attempts to hit Hazel over the head with his fists but is stopped by Hazel punching him in the gut, knocking Diego to the ground.

"You know, before you kill him, you might wanna hear what he has to say." Five states to his enraged brother

Diego jumps to his feet from the floor and whips out one of his many knives.

"I'm gonna kill you for what you did to Patch." He states with vile in his voice

Diego begins to slash his knife in the direction of Hazel as Hazel jumps back to avoid being cut. Rolling his eyes at the scene before him, Five leans back against the bar and takes a sip of his margarita.

"Or don't. See how that goes..." Five mumbles

As the fight goes on Hazel is able to catch Diego's arm but Diego drops the knife from one hand to the other. Using his free hand he stabs Hazel in the leg causing him to scream out in pain. Sucking in his breath, five grimaces at the scene

"That's gotta hurt." he comments

Punching Diego in the face, Hazel pulls the knife out of his leg and tosses it to the ground. Diego quickly recovers from the punch and comes back with a vengeance. In a fluid motion, Diego punches Hazel in the gut, followed by a kick to his stomach. He then backflips and kicks Hazel in his jaw twice. Five continued to see and watch the dispute happening before him, sipping more on his margarita. As much as he was inclined to stop it, he knew this is something Diego needed. It wouldn't fully make the pain of his loss go away but it could be a starting point to his grieving process. As the fight went on Hazel headbutted Diego before grabbing him tightly and lifting him off the ground. Seeing no other options Diego decided to play dirty and bit Hazel's ear. That was the final straw for Five though. He knew his brother needed to get his anger out but biting was petty and ridiculous. Taking some last sips of his margarita he placed it down on the bar before spacial jumping behind Diego and smashing a glass vase over his head. Knocked out Diego fell to the floor unconscious. As Hazel and Five looked over his passed out body Five said,

"I draw the line at biting. Hazel, whatever you came here to say, I suggest you make it quick before he comes round."

"I left my partner, quit the Commission, came to volunteer." Hazel states

"For what?" Five asks

"To help stop the apocalypse." Hazel responds

Five chuckles to himself. The apocalypse was over. Grabbing his drink he takes a long sip of it, a smirk still playing across his face.

"What on earth could be so funny to you right now?" Hazel questions confused and offended

"Before I answer that, why do you wanna help us?" Five asks of him

"Let's just say I have a vested interest in a doughnut shop." Hazel replies

With a smirk still on his face, Five looks up over to Hazel and in a rather cheerful tone Five says,

"Well, I hate to break it to you, pal, but you're a day late and a dollar short. The fact that you're here right now means, without a shadow of a doubt, that the apocalypse is over."

"Really? How do you know?" Hazel inquires, surprised at the statement

"The mark is dead. Found him this morning. You were the last known unknown left in the equation." Five states

"Shit. Really?" Hazel asks excitedly

"Mm-hmm. And if you're out, then Hellrider ain't riding." Five answers turning his seat away from Hazel

He wanted to keep a neutral demeanor with Hael but Five couldn't help by feel overwhelmingly happy. The apocalypse wasn't a treat anymore. You would be safe from harm. And he was also back with you. Sure, things weren't exactly perfect with his crazy family but this was a start.

"Oh! All right!" Hazel exclaims

Hazel makes his way over to the bar and sits on the seat net to Five. As they both face forward Hazel grabs the rest of the margarita mix that was still in the blender and downs it all. Placing the blender cup on the bar he asks,

"So now what?"

"You know, to be honest, I've been chasing this thing for so long, I...I never fully thought about the day after. I have some ideas though. What about you?" Five questions

"I'm done with all this madness. Time to start over. You should do the same." Hazel Suggests

"That's easier said than done." Five retorts

"It doesn't have to be hard. I mean, think about it like this. If you never time traveled, you never got caught up with the Handler, what would have happened?" Hazel asks

"I guess I would have grown up to be an emotionally stunted man-child like everybody else around here." Five says looking at his unconscious brother before turning back to Hazel "But I also would've gotten 17 consecutive years with the girl I love if I didn't time travel."

"Well is she still around?" Hazel questions

"Yeah, she's upstairs right now and by some miracle, my miscalculation made me the same age as her." Five answers

"Well, there you go. Now you can grow up with whoever you want and however you want. Like a bird that was trapped in a net, your wings are free. Fly off into a better future. Good luck." Hazel comments as he gets up from the bar

He starts to walk away but as he does Five turns around and calls,

"Hazel. One more thing before you go."

"Shoot."

"Which one of you was the trigger man for Detective Patch?" Five inquires

"Trigger woman." Hazel states

"Huh. That's too bad. That gun could have cleared my brother's name."

"Well, today's your lucky day, amigo." Hazel says as he walks back over to the bar

From under the back of his jacket Hazel pulls out two guns and lays them down on the counter of the bar.

"Take 'em both. I'm done with this life." Hazel adds

With that Hazel gives a nod to Five and leaves the house. Heading off to a better life with the donut shop he had an interest in. After he had gone Five sat in his seat and thought about what people had said. Klaus, Hazel, and even Imaginary you. It was time for him to move on from the apocalypse. This part of his life was over, there was no need to preoccupy himself with a non-existent threat anymore. He knew what the first step to moving on was, it would be difficult but he had to do it if he was ever going to get past well...his past. As he sat there in thought he could hear the sounds of groaning coming from Diego. He was starting to come to. Slowly, Diego propped himself up on his right arm while his left touched the spot on his head where the vase was broken over. Looking towards the bar he saw Five sitting there with a drink in his hand looking back at him.

"Good, you're up. Ready for a drink now?" Five questions

Diego quickly hopped to his feet and looked around the room for Hazel. He was nowhere to be found. Looking back to Five he frantically asked,

"Where is he?"

"I let him go." Five bluntly responds

"You what?" Diego questions, eyes wide with confusion

How could Five let him go? He was part of the duo that killed Eudora. He had to pay for what he did.

"Now that the apocalypse is over, it's time for the fighting to stop." Five said

Diego didn't respond. Seeing the knife he used to stab Hazel with on the ground he quickly picked it up and tried to make his way out of the parlor.

"Hey, he didn't kill Patch. His partner Cha-Cha did." Five stated 

Diego whipped around to face Five, yelling back,

"So what?"

"They were both there that night. This half of the partnership gave me both of their guns. Which will clear you, because the ballistics will match Patch's crime scene." Five explained as Diego approached "Hazel came here looking for a way out. He wanted a fresh start and he happened to have in his possession the one thing that could do our family a little good. So it's time to move on." 

Diego took a look at the guns on the bar. This meant nothing. Eudora was still dead and the people who caused it were still out there.

"Not a chance." He whispered

Five knew that Diego was too upset to truly be reasoned with. Five gave Diego a silent nod before getting off his bar stool saying,

"Suit yourself." 

Diego stood in place continuing to look at the guns while Five picked Dolores off the bar counter. As he started to walk away with her, he asked Diego,

" I am curious. Your girlfriend, Patch. What did you like about her?"

Five stood and held Dolores in his arms as he waited for Diego's response. Diego looks over at his brother silently before quickly responding.

"A lot of things...Cute butt. Nice legs."

"Anything a little more profound than that?" Five presses

Diego took a deep breath. There were so many more things he liked the just her appearance. It was hard to think of them though because it made him miss her even more. She was one of three women in his life who mattered most to him. Mom, you, and Eudora were his everything and although he had two out of three, it was still one less person whom he loved. Diego looked over to his brother.

"She believed in people. No matter how much shit and filth she saw on the streets. She always saw the good inside." Diego said quietly "She loved (Y/N) a lot too. She was always there to help her where I fell short. Eudora, she...she was better than me in a lot of ways but she always made me want to be better myself."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be proud to know that you're killing Hazel and Cha-Cha as a way to honor her memory." Five comments before turning to leave

As Five starts to walk away Diego calls out,

"Hey."

Five turns around to look at Diego once more. 

"What do you like so much about (Y/N)?" Diego questions

"Cute butt. Nice legs." Five remarks with a shit-eating grin

"Watch it, Five. That's still my little sister." Diego reprimands

"Take a joke, Diego. But what's not to like about her? Smart, beautiful, extremely powerful." Five starts

Five looked down to the ground as he thought about all the reasons he liked you. As he thought of you his shit-eating grin softened into a genuinely happy one. You were his motivation for doing all the stuff he did to get to this point. Everything about you was something he liked about you. He looked back up to Diego and with the utmost sincerity continued.

"More importantly though, she cared about me, saw me as more than just a number. We all put up walls because of how Dad treated us but she helped me to take them down. She made me human, and she still does. After all the shit I've been through and seen, she reminds me that I'm not just a killing machine like everyone thinks."

Diego was struck by his answer. He knew that Five cared about you and he knew that he had feelings for you. Those had always been true but at this moment he truly realized how much Five loved you. The two of you really were made for each other.

"Well, I'm glad you two make each other happy, after all that you've been through you deserve it." Diego calmly replies

Diego then takes a few steps towards Five. Looking him directly in the eyes he firmly states,

"But just know that for the rest of your life, every sacrifice you make is for my sister. Give her the best life."

"Every sacrifice I've ever made has been to give her the best life." Five answers keeping eye contact

"Then keep it up." Diego replies

"I will." 

And with that Five turned and walked away upstairs to his room. This was going to be hard for him but he needed to do it. He was going to bring Dolores back to her rightful home. Carefully, he placed her in the bag that he brought her home in and zipped it up. Not to worry you, he walked down the hall to your room to tell you he was going out for a bit. After you finished reading with Ben you went back to your room. You hadn't gotten through many pages of his journal because you kept asking questions and he kept pointing out things. Once you had gotten back to your room you changed out of your day-old clothes and into a new outfit, but now you were about to display the journal Ben gave you proudly on a shelf. As you were doing so you heard a voice from behind you say,

"Hey,"

You jumped out of surprise and the book landed on the ground away from you. Turning around you saw Five there.

"God, you first started doing that when I lived across the street and even 45 years won't stop it, huh?" You asked sarcastically

"No, never." Five replied in the same tone

Five looked over you and something struck him as familiar but he couldn't place it. Nevertheless, you looked nice.

"Nice outfit," he complimented "Have you worn it before?"

"Oh thank you and I mean I have but I don't think you've seen it yet." You reply

"Well, it looks nice. Anyway, I'm heading out really quick. I have to go return someone to their rightful home." Five states

You smiled at him, happy that he was ready to move on. Granted, you would've let him keep Dolores around as long as he wanted so he could feel better but if this was the decision he wanted to make then you were all for supporting it.

"Alright, but don't go jumping through time on me again." you comment

Five makes his way over to you and takes your hand in his. He looks at you for a moment, adoration filling his bright blue eyes, before placing a soft kiss to your lips.

"I promise no more apocalypse and no more time travel. You will never have to go a day without me again." He whispers to you

"Fine, I'll let you go once more." You say as you give him a small shove "But hurry back."

"I will." He says as he places a quick peck on your cheek

Letting go of your hand he spacial jumps downstairs and makes his way out of the house to go to Gimbel's Department Store. It was a bit of a walk to get to the store. Once he arrived there though he took a deep breath as he looked through the glass doors into the store. It was time. Grabbing the handle of the door he opened it and walked inside and made his way to the women's section. When he found the display where Dolores was supposed to go he gently placed the bag he was carrying her in down on the ground. Unzipping it, he takes Dolores out of the bag and gently places her back on her display podium. He places his hands in his pockets and looks down at the ground. When he looks back up there is imaginary you sitting in front of him one more time...one last time.

"I bet it feels good to be back amongst your friends. And it's okay, you can say it. We always were an unlikely pair." Five comments

"Unlikely? This is the classic romance story of a boy trapped in the future and his lover, a figure of his imagination in the shape of his best friend with a physical embodiment as a mannequin" Imaginary you jokes

Five lets out a laugh. Your humor was something that kept him sane.

"Listen, this isn't easy for me, and I...I want you to know that I cherish every single minute I ever shared with you, all 23 and a half million of them. A lifetime." Five explains "Now, look at us. We're lucky enough, we get a second one.

"And I hope that this lifetime can be filled with the care and love of the real version of me. Grow old with her this time, but also remember that you need to grow up as well." Imaginary you replies

"Yeah. You are right. I do have a lot of growing up to do." Five says "I'll never forget you"

"Goodbye, Five." Imaginary you says

With that, he turns away and walks over towards a store worker shifting through some clothes on a rack.

"Excuse me, miss?" He asks

"Yeah?" the store worker responds

Five looks back over to the display and all that was left was Dolores. Turning back to the store worker he asked,

"Could you give that mannequin something new to wear? She likes sequins."

Five then walks away from the worker and heads towards the entrance in which he came. As he walks he spots a rack selling the exact same shirt as the one you were wearing before he left the house. He stops to look at them because there was something so familiar about the shirt. Grabbing the shirt off the rack he racks his brain for how he had seen it before, but then it hits him. His heart starts to race as he realizes where he had seen that shirt before. This was the shirt you were wearing when he found you in the future. The images of you impaled on the rebar in the remains of his collapsed house started flooding back to him. His heart raced. He needed to get back to you. Dropping the shirt he was holding to the ground he rushes out of the store and back towards the academy. 

At the academy, things were relatively calm. You had been in your room for the most part and for the first time in the past week things were finally quiet. The end of the world was no longer an issue and things were going to be alright. No apocalypse, no time travel, just peace. You laid in your bed and scrolled through your social media feed just trying to pass the time as you waited for Five to return. As you continued to scroll you could feel a chill go down your spine. You sat up and looked around for something, anything that might've triggered it. Cautiously, you started to lay back down but as you did you could feel an uneasiness building in your gut. Like Spiderman's spidey-sense, you could feel that something was wrong. Not wanting to hesitate you threw your phone on your bed and jumped up. Quickly, you grabbed your school backpack and started to throw in things that were important to you. Your diary, the teddy bear and music box Five gave you, Five's old mask and his backup that you used, the tiara from your sweet sixteen, anything that had value went in the backpack. When you had everything you thought you needed you put your backpack on and tried making your way over to your doo. But you didn't even make it a step when a wave of strong molecular disturbance hit, knocking the wind out of you and bringing you to your knees. As you tried to catch your breath you could hear the sound of a loud crash coming from the floors below you.

"What the hell is going on?" you whispered to yourself

The house began to shake violently and it became harder to move as whatever was causing this disturbance moved closer to where you were. You could hear people yelling in the hall and you tried your best to move yourself towards the door but it felt as if you were crawling through solid concrete. The house rocked as you heard what sounded like an explosion go off in one of the bedrooms. You could feel the molecular disturbance get closer and closer to you. You clenched your teeth and took in sharp breaths as you tried to ignore the volatile reaction your body was going through and move to get out. The door to your room swung open and standing there was Vanya. The molecular disturbance stopped for a second as she stared in your room apparently unaware of your presence. Your eyes went wide as you realized Vanya was the disturbance. Quickly, you caught your breath, trying to regain as much strength as you could. Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted Ben's journal that you had dropped earlier. Vanya stopped staring into the room and started to walk away. Feeling a disturbance build up as it did seconds ago, you knew you weren't going to make it out of the room, but you had a promise to keep. Using what strength you mustered you forced yourself over to Ben's journal, grabbing it in your hand before holding it tight against your chest. Closing your eyes you could feel the blast of an explosion and then the feeling of falling. As you fell with your eyes closed you heard Reginald's voice in your head,

"You should not fear the weight or strength of other objects Number Zero, as they cannot break you if you yourself are an unbreakable force"

And so in the few seconds, you had left you tried to make your molecules and the molecules of the things you were holding denser than the rest of the house that was about to come down on you, but as you hit the ground you could feel pressure atop of you.

From a block away Five could hear the sound of the explosions and crashing and he knew the direction it was coming from. The academy. As he ran on his way back there he was stopped in his tracks when he saw the newspaper from that day. It was the same one he found in the apocalypse. He quickly picked it up and made ran towards where the noise was coming from. When he made it to the academy he ran over the mounds of rubble. As he did he saw his siblings standing there looking around distraught, but no (Y/N). His eyes went wide with shock and his heart raced as he screamed out,

"(Y/N)! (Y/N)!" 

When Diego heard Five calling out your name he looked around and saw that you had not gotten out with Luther and Allison. Diego had just lost a second out of the three girls he loved most he couldn't lose you too. Quickly, he ran to follow the sound of Five's voice. The rest of the group followed behind their panicked brothers but had trouble navigating where they went. Five ran through the rubble to where he had found you when he arrived in the future. Tears pricking his eyes expecting the worst. When he rounded a mound of fallen concrete he expected the worst, but what he saw was unlike what he expected. There you were unharmed, not impaled on rebar. In fact, you were about 3 feet away from where the rebar pole was. Five watched as large debris chunks fell down, but before they could hit you they broke into small pieces and slid to the side. With all of the debris above you gone Five rushed towards you calling out,

"(Y/N)!"

Your eyes shot open as you saw Five running your way. Dropping to his knees in front of you, he enveloped you in a tight hug. Pulling back so he can look at you he whispered,

"I thought I lost you again." 

"I'm not leaving you this time mon chéri." you replied

You wrap your arms around Five and pull him into a hug once more. When the two of you finish your hug you help each other up and walk out of the pile of rubble you helped to create.

"How did you do that? You know, stop the house from falling on you?" Five questions

"I took some advice from an angry old bastard." You reply with a smirk

Five was going to ask you to elaborate when you hear Diego call out,

"(Y/N)! Five!"

"Over here!" You shout

"She's safe!" Five adds

You and Five watch Diego round the corner followed by the other three siblings. Diego rushes over to you and wraps you in a hug as well, holding you as tight as he can. His eyes starting to water as he said,

"Thank god you're okay. I'm so glad you're okay."

Diego continues to hold you as he quietly adds,

"She d-d-didn't make i-it (Y/N)."

You knew he was referring to mom. You held your brother tighter as it was hard enough losing her the first time, but to get her back and lose her a second time was devastating. He had been the strong one for you the first time she died but you knew that you had to be there to support him this time. When you felt he'd be okay you let go of the hug and stood by your brother's side. With you and the rest of the Hargreeves all together Five addressed the group.

"Guys. This is it. The apocalypse is still on. The world ends today."

"I thought you said it was over," Luther asks

"I was wrong, okay? This newspaper, I found it in the future the day I got stuck. The headline hasn't changed." Five says holding up the paper

"No, that doesn't mean anything. The time could've been altered since that newspaper came out this morning." Diego remarked

"You're not listening to me. When I found it, I assumed this place came down along with everything else. But here we are. The Moon's still shining, the Earth is in one piece, but not the Academy." Five retorts

"I'm confused," Klaus says grabbing the paper from Five's hands

"Then listen to me, you idiot! Vanya destroys the Academy before the apocalypse. I thought Harold Jenkins was the cause, but he was the fuse. Vanya is the bomb. Vanya causes the apocalypse." Five explains

"We have to find her." Luther states

In the distance, you could hear the sound of police sirens and up above the sound of a helicopter.

"We gotta go, now." You exclaimed

"Regroup at the Super Star. Go!" Luther commands

And so everyone rushed off in different directions to get to the Super Star Bowling Alley. As you made your way out of the remains of the house you spotted a broken picture frame in the rubble. Seeing the picture inside you quickly grab it and place it inside Ben's journal before placing the journal in your backpack. With that last memory saved, you said goodbye to the second home you had taken from you and made your way to the bowling alley.


	26. The Calm Before The Storm

As you made your way from the wreckage of the academy to the Super Star Lanes you felt numb. The world floated by you and your body was on auto-pilot as you walked the dark city streets with only a backpack's worth of the life you used to have. This past week had taken so much from you in such a short amount of time. There were some good things that came out of this week but no matter how much hope you tried to keep it was difficult to with every new thing that happened. You felt weak, not only from using your powers too much but also from losing your home and parent a second time. That melancholy feeling, the one you dealt with the last time you came to realize the life you'd know was gone, had started making a reappearance. You wanted to help save the world because there was still so much good in it but you were also scared about having to start over again if you did. Would you be able to do it? Could you really be able to start over again and be okay with it? You weren't sure. Things were already so different in just a matter of days. Hours even. You had to be resilient though. This wasn't about you, this was about the world as a whole. You could deal with yourself after this shit-show was over. 

As you made it to the bowling alley, you saw some of the others standing there. You made your way towards them but as you did you could feel a heavy solemnness grow in the air. And you realized, everyone felt the way that you felt. Their whole worlds were turned upside down just like yours over the course of this week. Maybe if you saved the day, you could all move on together. Once everyone had made it to the bowling alley you stepped inside as a group. You all went over to the main desk to pay for some games and rent bowling shoes. When all of that was set up and paid for you went over to the lane you were assigned to. As you set up the scoreboard the rest of them sat on the provided chairs and talked about the situation.

"Look, I hate to be the one to say this, but everyone needs to prepare." Luther states

"For what?" Diego asks

"To do whatever it takes to stop Vanya." Luther continues

Oh shit. Did he really just suggest that? You whipped your head over towards where Luther was and saw Allison stare him down angrily before hitting him in the chest with her notepad. Luther turns his attention to her and adds,  
  
"I...We may not have a choice, Allison."

"Bullshit. There's always options." Diego complains

"Yeah, like what?" Five questions  
  
"I don't know..." Diego replies bluntly  
  
"Look, whatever we decide, we need to find Vanya. And fast, okay? She could be anywhere." Luther comments  
  
"Or... here. Look at this." Klaus mentions holding open the newspaper Five found

You head over to where Klaus was and sit down on the bench in between him and Diego. Looking at the open newspaper you see an ad for her performance at the Icarus Theatre tonight with the orchestra she plays with.  
  
"That's right. Her concert is tonight." Diego recalls  
  
"Hello. I hate to intrude, but my manager says if you're not gonna bowl, you gotta leave." A young female employee says

Your group looked towards the main desk where you had paid for your games and rented your shoes to see an angry older gentleman slamming a pair of shoes down on the counter. As he did that you saw someone approaching the main desk. It wasn't just anyone though. Confused, you tilted your head slightly looking at the figure from your seat.

"Marksman?" You asked yourself quietly

"Huh?" Diego questioned looking your way

Slowly you stood up and in a trance-like state, you walked away from your group and towards the figure. From behind you, you heard Luther ask,

"Where are you going?"

You didn't acknowledge him though. The group watches you silently, confused about what was going on. What was so important that you left them?

You quickly made your way over to the counter but when you got closer you slowed down, almost hesitant to approach someone you knew so well. As he was putting on his bowling shoes you slowly reached out your arm and placed a light hand on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder, doing a double-take when he saw you. Whipping around he looks at you, a shocked expression going across his face. He blinks his eyes a couple of times to make sure he's seeing correctly before saying,

"Hey (Y/N)."

"Hey Dean," you reply smiling at your friend

"I didn't expect to see you here. You've been MIA for a week. I mean you didn't show up to school, you didn't respond to the group chat or discord server, you didn't send out streaks either. I had to log into your snap account just so Spotlight wouldn't kill you for losing them." He explains

"I know. This past week has been chaotic, to say the least. I swear I've been to hell and back ten times over." You respond

"Hell and back?" Dean asks

"Hell n back," you answer

"Hellnback?!" Dean exclaims loudly

"Helen Back!" You yell

You and Dean both let out a little laugh. It wasn't even that funny but the stupid and chaotic nature you shared with your friend brought you some normalcy during a week of such abnormality. Although you knew with Vanya still out there and the end of the world on the line, nothing was normal.

"Hey, why are you here anyway?" You ask Dean

"For Kenny's 18th birthday party. Did you forget?" He questions back

Your eyes go wide. You did forget.

"Oh fuuuuuuck." You say aloud

"It's alright we all want to forget him anyway." Dean states with a smirk "For god's sake, look at Whiplash, he craves the sweet release of death just so he could get away from Kenny."

"You really think Kenny would leave Bren alone in the afterlife?" You joke

"Oh, of course not." Dean laughs out "Anyway, why don't we get you some fun after this week of hell you've had?"

You look over back towards the Hargreeves who were looking back at you. You turn to Dean and start to sputter out,

"Oh, I...I don't know-"

Dean cuts you off though by picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder and saying,

"I never intended to actually give you a say, Ringmaster."

"Fuck you, Marksman." You reply as you just ragdoll on his shoulder

"Fuck you Goatman! I disrespect your bridge Goatman!" Dean quotes back at you

You roll your eyes as you are carried a short distance to the party lane. As Dean approaches the group of your friends he says,

"Guys look who I found!"

Turning around so his back was facing the group, you were now visible to them all. It took them all a second to process but once they did the excitement of the group grew as they shouted in unison,

"(Y/N)!"

Dean placed you down on the ground and you made your way over to your friends. Viktoria and Addison quickly threw their arms around you giving you a hug. When they broke away you passed by Lucas and Bren exchanging friendly hellos before making your way over to Kenny.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our missing leader!" Kenny exclaims

"Your existence is a joke," you replied sarcastically

"And it's the funniest joke God ever played," he responded proudly "Just wait though because when I meet them...oh boy are they gonna get PRANKED."

"Alright dumbass, you have fun with that." You jokingly reply

"Hey! That's Captain Dumbass to you!" He says feigning offense before pointing to Bren and adding "And that's my partner in crime Doctor Dipshit."

Bren who had started reading a book looked up at Kenny saying,

"Necrotic, leave me out of this."

"I'll NEVER leave you out of this Brennyboo. Y'know why?" Kenny emphasizes

Bren lets out a defeated sigh before replying,

"Why?"

"Because I love you bitch! I ain't ever gonna stop loving you...BITCH!" Kenny exclaims throwing his arms around his best friend

"I'd rather die," Bren replies trying to hide a smile

"Wow. It took him 45 minutes before saying he wanted to die because of Kenny." Lucas commented

"I think that's a new record!" Viktoria adds

You and your friends all laugh a bit as the Hargreeves siblings continued to watch you. As they watched they started to get an odd feeling that just itched at them but they couldn't tell what it was. Five watched his siblings, letting out a small laugh to himself.

"What's so funny Five?" Luther demands

"I always wondered when you meet your replacements. It's just funny how it's on the last day we have." Five responds

"Replacements? What do you mean replacements?" Diego questions

Five looks over to them, a snarky smile on his face.

"Look at her friends...and I mean _REALLY_ look at them." Five replies

The group turns their attention back over to you and your friends and intently look at you all, and the pieces start to come together. Quickly jotting her thoughts down in her notebook, Allison shows what she wrote to the rest of her siblings. They look towards Allison's writing and read,

_Look like us._

Once they all read her note they realized it too. Your friends looked like them when they were your age. Five gets up from where he was sitting, the snarky look not disappearing from his face. Taking a few steps over so he can see your friends as well Five hears Klaus comment,

"Just because they look like us doesn't mean we got replaced!"

"That's not where the resemblance stops," Five states before pointing to each friend and saying "Meet her friends Lucas, Dean, Addison, Kenny, Bren, and Viktoria."

"Well, that's a little eerie." Klaus adds

"Did she really replace us?" Luther questions confused

"Not intentionally, but yes, they're like carbon copies of everyone except they don't have powers. Lucas is extremely strong, more so than the average guy at his age. Dean is an extraordinary archer, he never misses his target. Addison is the president of the drama club and a master manipulator. Kenny is an idiot but he also an EMT and is really good at working in near-death situations. Bren is extremely well-read but more so he carries two whips under his jacket that are like extensions of his body and Viktoria she's highly knowledgeable of sound and plays the viola." Five explains factually

"How do you know all this?" Diego asks

"She gave me her diary to read before she died in the apocalypse. She wrote every day in detail and for 45 years I read that book from front to back." Five recalled

Out of all the books he read in the apocalypse he could guarantee that was the one he read most. He could recite it word for word, every detail he knew like the back of his hand. Hell, the reason he suggested coming here was that he remembered you writing about being invited to Kenny's birthday party here in the diary. If the world ended he wanted you to be able to be with your friends one last time. He also knew that his siblings would see their replacements and he wanted to see their reactions. Allison writes down in her notebook before turning the message to Five. On the paper it only says,

_Why?_

"Why? It was a coping mechanism, and I don't think she even realized it. I mean when she came back she was 13 and all of you were 24. Even if you all were around, which you weren't, she no longer could relate to you the way she used to so she sought out people she could relate to. She just so happened to find people that were pretty much you all, but her age." Five states

"Oh so why didn't you get replaced Mr. Know-It-All?" Klaus questions

"Well, I was replaced in a sense. She didn't find a new me, she just took my place in their group. She's their Five like I am yours." Five answers "They're like the family we could've been."

The Hargreeves look back at you all smiling and laughing. The more they looked the more it hurt because Five was right. You guys were the family that they didn't get to be. You were happily together while they had to fight to stay afloat as a group. Maybe if you and Five hadn't gone missing or if Ben hadn't died you all could be like that, but it was too late and you would never get to find out if that was possible. While your friends all joke to themselves you pull Kenny to the side and quietly ask,

"Hey...do you have your med bag with you?"

Not understanding the need for secrecy he exclaimed loudly,

"Why do you need the med bag?"

Your friends whip around hearing what Kenny said and start to individually exclaim,

"Medbag?"

"Medbag?"

"Medbag?"

"Jesus, what are you all? The seagulls from Finding Nemo?" You complain

Your friends surround you concerned.

"What happened?" Viktoria asks

"Who hurt you?!" Bren exclaims

"Whoever did this do you want me to kill that guy for you? Because it sounds like they suck and I will totally kill that guy for you." Dean states pulling his bow and an arrow practically out of nowhere

Where did he hide that stuff on his person? It's not like you with your knives of Bren with his whips. Those were easy to conceal, this was a full ass bow and arrow. Whatever that's not what's important. You use your hand to lower Dean's bow as you say,

"Calm down Archery Zorro." 

You look at your group of concerned friends. You had to explain to them what happened, no matter how much you didn't want to.

"I pushed my powers too far. There was a molecular disturbance that was really strong and it collapsed the building I was in and so to save my life I had to push through and overuse my powers." You state

"(Y/N). You understand that too strong of a molecular disturbance could oh I don't know...kill you?!" Bren questions

"And the last time you overused your powers you went into a coma for three days." Viktoria chimes in

"I know! I know! But my options were, attempt to save my life and maybe die in the process or straight up die so I took my chances and here I am." You explain slightly annoyed

You knew the risks as well as they did but like you said your options were "maybe die" or "whoops I'm dead". Five and Diego would not be able to cope with your death. And as much as Ben liked your company you didn't think he would be happy if you were a ghost too. Kenny looks over to you.

"Unfortunately, I was planning on getting zooted out of my mind tonight so I don't have my med bag with the adrenaline vile" Kenny explains "But uhh...Addison do you have your EpiPen?"

"Yeah. Of course, I do." Addison responds

"Alright give it to me so I can administer it on (Y/N). The adrenaline will help bring back up her capabilities and make sure she doesn't oh y'know...die." Kenny states nonchalantly

"But what if I need it?" Addison questions

"What? You have plans on consuming nuts tonight Addison?" Kenny asks her

"I mean really it depends on how the night goes, y'know?" Lucas comments

Addison's jaw drops at her boyfriend's statement. You and the rest of your friends are silent for a second before breaking out into extreme laughter. Your face going tomato red as you laughed at what Lucas had said. As you laughed a flustered Addison turned to her boyfriend, slapping him in the arm and exclaiming,

"Lucas I hate you!"

"You weren't saying that last night." He replies with a wink and a cocky smile on his face

You and your group laugh harder, drawing attention to you all. You bend over, holding your sides as they ached from laughing so hard. Addison's face was red with embarrassment as many people in the bowling alley looked your way wondering what was going on.

"Ugh just take the EpiPen and shut up!" Addison states as she grabs it from her purse and hands it over to Kenny

When you can finally breathe again you prop one of your legs up on a seat and hold onto Dean and Bren to steady yourself. Kenny takes the cap off of the pen exposing the needle. He counts down,

"Three...Two...One."

When he hits one he jabs the EpiPen into your thigh releasing the adrenaline into your system. You knew your leg was going to be sore but Kenny didn't have his med bag with the vile of adrenaline and needle on him. This was your only hope at getting your energy back up enough to have full or close to the full strength of your powers again. You needed everything you could to help stop Vanya. After about five minutes you can feel the adrenaline start to kick in

"Alright, let's try this baby out."

You take a deep breath and focus. Thinking about what you want to do you summon a cupcake from the table behind you to your hand. Your friends cheer as they recognize your abilities coming back to you. You then manipulate the cupcake to make it lighter. As it gently floats up a bit your friends watch in amazement, but when the cupcake is high enough you take your hand and push it into Kenny's face. Smushing it around so that the frosting gets everywhere. Kenny wipes the frosting off his eyelids so he can look at you. His expression is less than pleased.

"Hey, you always said that you were a snack!" Bren exclaims

You and your friends start to laugh a bit again as Kenny grabs a napkin and wipes the rest of his face off. When He's finished Dean turns to you and says,

"I need to know something. You said that you had to overuse your powers to save you from the building you were in collapsing on you, but the only building that has collapsed tonight was the Umbrella Academy. If you're telling us the truth, which I don't think you'd lie, then why were you there."

" _Shit._ " You thought to yourself

When did Dean become so observant? You told them the truth about what happened but you messed up by going too much into detail. You should've just omitted anything about the building collapsing but you weren't thinking of it. And now here you were trapped in a metaphorical corner. You had to come clean. You didn't want to, not now, and sometimes you thought not ever, but it was too late for that at this point. You never expected this was going to be the way you told your friends about your involvement with the Umbrella Academy but here you were! Your friends stare at you waiting for an answer. Looking over your shoulder you spot the Hargreeves siblings looking your way. You let out a huff before reluctantly saying,

"Follow me."

Without another word, you turn yourself towards the Hargreeves' direction and walk that way. Your friends all look at each other confused but slowly follow after you and the Hargreeves also look confused as you approach them. You stop in front of the Hargreeves while your friends form a semi-circle behind you. You turn to look at your friends.

"You wanna know why I was at the Umbrella Academy? You wanna know why I risked my life to save my life?" You rhetorically question getting louder with each word "THIS IS WHY!"

Using your arms you gesture to the Hargreeves who blankly stared at your friends. Your friends blankly stared back as well. You could see Lucas' mouth open to say something but he is cut off by Kenny.

"HEY! I know you!" Kenny exclaims pointing at Klaus "I drove the ambulance to the hospital after you OD'ed you like a week and a half ago. When you came back to life, you gave me some Xanax as payment."

"Oh yeah! How are you?" Klaus asks

"Oh I'm-" Kenny starts but is cut off

"Kenny, shut up. Nobody here likes you." Dean states

"Jokes on you I don't like me either!" Kenny retorts

"Nobody here likes themselves, you're not special." Viktoria remarks

"Can we _please_ get back to the main point at hand you fricking fracking fucks!" Bren exclaims before asking "Who are these people?" 

You look towards your friends before looking back towards the Umbrella Academy. You nodded your head to yourself because there was no going back now. Standing up straighter with your arms still gestured out towards the Hargreeves sibling you grandly reply,

"Dear friends of mine, meet your heroes. The Umbrella Academy."

You watch as the words you said start to be processed in the minds of your friends. You can see the gears turning as eyes start to widen, jaws start to drop and bodies start to fidget with excitement over the prospect of being in the same place as their heroes. You hear heavy breathing and turn towards Lucas who looked like he was about to explode. His whole body shook as he took a few steps closer towards Luther and pointed at him.

"Y-y-you're Luther Hargreeves. You're my hero" Lucas says shocked 

Luther looks up at Lucas and Lucas looks Luther dead in the eyes. He's quiet for a second before intensely stating,

" **I LOVE YOU**."

"Wh- what about me Hercules?" Addison questions

Lucas turns his attention to her. His face upturned into a smile as he approaches his girlfriend and holds her face in his hands.

"Spotlight, Addison, Baby, I love you so much, I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Lucas explains before putting on a serious tone and saying "...but you're no Luther Hargreeves."

"Wow. Alright." Addison exclaims giving him a playful shove

Lucas laughs and the rest of your friends smile at the situation. You all knew he was joking with her. At least everyone in your friend group did. The Hargreeves, excluding Five, became more confused by the minute.

"You hate to see it," Bren comments sarcastically

When he finishes laughing Lucas turns back to Luther and states,

"Like I said. I love you." 

"Uh...thanks..." Luther replies uncomfortably

Lucas continues to make Luther uncomfortable by detailing how much he knows about him. While he does that the rest of your friends express their admiration for the rest of the group.

"I can't believe we get to meet our heroes!" Addison exclaims

"I can't believe I met my hero a week and a half ago but didn't even realize it." Kenny remarks

"Hey at least you can meet your hero...mine is dead" Bren complains sadly

Ben looked over in the direction of Bren, who looked exactly like he did when he died. Ben could see a lot of himself in this friend of yours and he appreciated that even after he was gone he was still an inspiration to someone. It meant the short amount of time he had, no matter how difficult his life was and no matter how much it sucked to die, wasn't in vain.

"Don't worry he's here right now. As a spirit." Kenny comforts looking in Ben's general direction

"I think you mean in spirit." Bren corrects

Besides Luther who was being bombarded with attention by Lucas, the rest of the Hargreeves looked at your group of friends. It had been so long since they were in the spotlight as heroes that they didn't realize people still cared about them. Sure they didn't know how much it sucked to be in the academy but there was something almost comforting that even though they weren't popular like they used to be, people still thought about them. Still cared for them even. Diego looked towards your group of friends with an awestruck look in his eyes as he asked,

"You guys really admire us that much?" 

"Admire you? All we ever wanted was to be you." Dean responds

All of the Hargreeves were touched by the statement. Even Luther, who just a second ago thought that Lucas was the epitome of annoyance, realized that when these kids say they love them, they meant it. They weren't heroes to your friends because of what they did, but because of who they were and what they stood for. The Hargreeves looked at their younger counterparts and saw hope and joy within them. It became more apparent at that moment why they were trying to stop this apocalypse. It wasn't just about saving the planet anymore, it was about saving the planet for people like your friends. Those who wanted to be heroes, help others, and bring more goodness to the world.

"Not to be a buzzkill but how do you even know the Umbrella Academy?" Viktoria asks

"Fuck." you whisper under your breath

"Yeah...uh about that..." You start "It's gonna sound crazy so be prepared."

"Go on Ringmaster, we're listening," Bren responds

You are silent and your friends look at you intensely. Their undivided attention was all yours.

"How do I put this?" You say "As you know I was born October 1st, and you guys always assumed it was 2000 but the truth is I was born October 1st, 1989."

"The same day as the Umbrella Academy kids," Bren says

"But you can't be born in 1989, you're way too young." Dean comments

"Yeah, and what does this have to do with them?" Kenny asks

You turn away from them and walk over to your backpack and pull out the photo you recovered from the wreckage of the academy. The photo of you with the Umbrella Academy when you all celebrated your 13th birthdays together. You look at your young smiling faces as you stand in a line with arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. The good old days before things became complicated. You bring it back over to your friends and hold it up for them to look at. You can see their faces contort as they look at the photograph.

"Is that- is that you? With the Umbrella Academy?" Lucas questions

"Yes, it is. That was taken October 1st, 2002. We all celebrated our 13th birthday together after we stopped a robbery hostage situation at the Capital West Bank. They were my first friend group." You respond

"But- but if you were 13 in 2002 how come we met you at 13 years old in 2013. Shouldn't you be 29 now if you were born in 1989?" Kenny inquires

"Wait you can calculate the years just like that but you can't do three times five?" Bren asks Kenny

"Guys, that's irrelevant." Addison remarks "How are you not 29?"

"Here's where it all gets messy. I was very close friends with Five, he's sitting over there, on the bench. He was and to this day still is my best friend." You explain quickly adding "andalsowe'redating."

"What?" Dean questions

"ANYWAY. One day he decided that he knew best and tried to use his powers to time travel. He did it, but he accidentally brought me with him before disappearing alone into the future. I was only 13 when I arrived in 2013 which is why I'm 18 now but I technically should be 29." you answer

Your friends look at you confused. Their minds trying to process this new and crazy information.

"Huh," Lucas says slowly nodding his head

"Okay," Viktoria adds

"That's lit as hell!" Dean comments excited

With Dean's exclamation, the demeanor of your friends started to change. They went from confused to enthusiastic. Honestly, although you didn't know if you would tell them this secret, it was a relief to finally let them in on it.

"Wait? So what are you all doing here at a bowling alley?" Kenny questions

"Well uh..." You start to respond nervously

"The academy building was destroyed and we needed somewhere to discuss a plan because the world is going to end tonight and we're trying to stop it." Five explains from behind you

Your eyes shoot open at his bluntness of the situation and you shoot him a look. Five gets up from his seat and walks to be by your side. With a smirk on his face, he sarcastically asks,

"What is it, my love? This the first time you're hearing the world is ending."

"Oh fuck off." You say playfully, giving him a small shove

"So we're all gonna die if you don't stop this?" Viktoria asks

"Yes." Five monotonously replies

Everyone is quiet for a second before Kenny exclaims,

"Oh hell yeah! This is the best birthday present ever! I might get to die!"

"If I die I won't have to deal with Kenny." Bren realizes

"I'm not leaving you alone even if you're dead. I will ruin your afterlife as well." Kenny firmly states

"No student loans! Loans are for the living!" Dean yells

"We'll get to spend the rest of our lives together." Lucas and Addison say in unison

"You can't be anxious if you're dead," Viktoria adds

The Hargreeves look at your group of friends confused. They all wanted to... _die_? Why? What in life would compel these young kids to value their mortality so much? Were they serious about this?

"What is wrong with you all?" Luther questions concerned

"Alright, all together everyone!" Viktoria says waving her hands like a music conductor "Cuz we're sentient beings..."

"...AND LIFE IS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!!!" You and your friends scream in unison

You probably screamed that louder than you should've but the statement was true. Life is a fucking nightmare. Turning your attention back to the group of Hargreeves you see their reactions. Klaus and Five looked amused while the other three looked concerned beyond belief. Feeling like they needed an explanation you say,

"Uh, nihilism runs rampant throughout gen Z. It's fun. We don't really want to die...fully." You explain

"FULLY?" Diego questions concerned

Before you could respond Lucas interjects and exclaims,

"Forget about getting nerfed. We can help you guys stop the apocalypse!" 

_Nerfed?_ Allison writes in her notepad and holds it up confused. Nobody would be able to answer her question though because Luther states,

"You guys are great and all but, we're the only ones capable of stopping this. We have a responsibility to our Dad."  
  
"To Dad? No, I've heard enough about..." Diego complains as he stands up  
  
"He sacrificed everything to bring us back together!" Luther replies angrily, standing as well

You had seen situations like this unfold before. Where Luther and Diego would get into disagreements over petty stuff. It was all they knew how to do. You'd be surprised if for once they truly got along, but that day was not today. Your friends look on in confusion. This was probably not how they envisioned their heroes.  
  
"I'm with Luther on this one. We can't give her a chance to fight back. There are billions of lives at stake. We're past trying to save just one." Five adds

"Hey, you know, guys, uh...maybe I could help." Klaus chimes in  
  
"Now is not the time." Luther reprimands

"No, let him finish. He saved my life today." Diego demands  
  
"Really? Is that true?" Luther asks, taken aback

"Yeah, yeah, I did...take credit for it. In fact, the real hero...was Ben. Today... Listen. Today, he punched me in the face. And earlier at the house, he was the one who saved Diego's life, not me." Klaus nervously explains  
  
"You are unbelievable, Klaus," Luther complains

"You want proof, is that it? Alright, I'll give you proof." Klaus exclaims picking up a bowling ball "All right, it's showtime, baby. Catch!"

Klaus throws the ball in the air but it just lands on the floor and rolls away. Unlike everyone else you saw Ben try to catch it but it didn't work. You wanted to say something but Luther being the loudest yelled,  
  
"Is there any way to silence that voice in your head that screams out to be the center of attention?"  
  
"You know, I liked you a lot better before you got laid." Klaus retorts before realizing what he said and trying to backtrack "Which was a complete...It... It wasn't his fault, 'cause he was ridiculously high, right? And... And the girl, she thought he was a furry..."

"Stop!" Luther demands

"Okay," Klaus replies quickly

Klaus sits down next to Diego as Allison gives Luther an annoyed look. She walks away from the group and towards the doors of the bowling alley.

"Allison, wait," Luther calls out running after her

You nod your head at the situation. Nothing you can do about it. Turning to your friends who look extremely surprised at what just happened you explain

"They're less functional than you guys like to think. They might be heroes but they're still human."

Your friends nod their heads understanding the point you just made. You all stand there in silence for a second before hearing a voice call out.

"Excuse me!"

It was Kenny's mom. She was a nice lady but very overbearing on Kenny. She always felt the need to "be there for him" and although Kenny appreciated it when he was younger he always complained to you and your friends about how it was just too much now and he wanted her to give him some freedom rather than forcing her way on him. Kenny's mom places her hands on his shoulders and you watch as she addresses Diego and Klaus.

"Excuse me, it's my son Kenny's birthday today, and...uh...wouldn't your son be happier playing with kids his own age?" She says before turning to Five and saying "Assuming it's okay with your two dads."  
  
"I would rather chew off my own foot." Five retorts at her unamused

Ah, typical Five. Honestly, if you didn't know Kenny's mom you would've responded similarly. Upset at the response Kenny's mom grabs his wrist and drags him back over to the other lane.  
  
"Let's go, Kenny." She demands

Kenny rolls his eyes as he follows his mother back to the lane where his party was being held. Your friends follow as well, stifling their amusement, but you linger with Diego, Klaus, and Five for a bit. You watch as Five perks up at a sound. Getting up from his seat he walks to a different lane and you follow him. You watch as he opens up the bowling ball machine and pulls out some sort of container. In the background though you hear Diego and Klaus bickering.

"If I was going to date a man, you'd be the last man I would date," Diego complains  
  
"You'd be lucky to get me." Klaus retorts

Five looks at the container he had just pulled out of the machine confused.  
  
"How the hell did she find me?" He asks to himself

Five then remembers taking candy from the bowl in her office. Pulling the candy out from his pocket he unwraps one of them and finds a tracking device inside. He inspects the device closely, quietly commenting,

"She's good."

He drops the device to the floor, squishing it with his shoe before looking inside the container he found. Through the glass portion of the container, he sees a fortune cookie inside. Quickly, he removes the top dropping it down to the ground before taking out the fortune cookie and throwing the container away. Breaking the cookie open he reads the fortune inside.

_TIME MARCHES ON...OR DOES IT? Rain Quail, Rm 12_

Five couldn't believe this. He did not want to deal with The Handler. She had already done enough but he didn't know what she had up her sleeve though. He needed to go see her no matter how much he hated to. He turned his head to look back towards his two brothers but instead he saw you waiting there. You looked at him with concern in your eyes. 

"Five." You say

"I have to leave." He stated, a sense of urgency in his voice

"Five." You reply, your tone begging him not to go

"I really don't want to do this but I have no choice. Stopping the apocalypse might depend on it." Five responds

"Let me come with you." You plead

"Darling, I don't want to leave you. It hurts me so much to do so especially since I know it hurts you, but I can't let you come with me." He softly details

He lets out a deep breath and cups your face in his hands. Looking you straight in the eye he elaborates,

"The Handler, my former boss, will do _anything_ in her power to stop me from stopping the apocalypse and that includes threatening to harm or harming you. I could not live with myself if anything happened to you that could've been preventable. I refuse to put you at risk which is why I need to go alone."

You look away from him for a second. It did hurt to have him leave again. The apocalypse was still imminent and you had no clue what this crazy bitch of an ex-boss was capable of. You wanted to go with him, no matter what the risks were but he had a point. You didn't want to be a liability and you definitely didn't want to put yourself in a situation where your life would be used against Five. You look back at him and stare into his beautiful blue eyes.

"Promise you'll come back?" You ask softly

"I always do." He replies

Five pulls your face to his and firmly presses his lips against yours. The kiss was needy and desperate. The stakes were high and if something happened to him, he wasn't going to leave without giving you every ounce of love he had and then some. The two of you parted and looked into each other's eyes.

"Be safe," you told him

"I will," he responded

Without another word, you nodded at him and Five nodded in response before jumping away. You stood in place for a second, coming to terms with the situation but after a bit you turned around and started walking towards your friends, stopping to pick up your backpack from where Diego and Klaus were still sitting. Placing the bag of your stuff on your back you finished walking over to where your friends were. As you approached you could hear the first couple of beats from I Think We're Alone Now by Tiffany come through the speaker of the alley. You and your friends watch as Lucas starts to sway side to side to the music. He dances alone for a second, but shortly after, one by one each of you goes and joins him. There was a sense of familiarity about this like you had done it before but you couldn't quite place it. You smiled as you danced with your friends, but as it had many times before, your gut started to act up as if it was screaming at you to get somewhere else. While your friends continued to dance you looked around and that's when you saw them. Figures with masks coming into the bowling alley with guns raised up and ready to shoot. As you started turning to warn your friends the sound of gunfire fills the building. 

"GET DOWN!" You yell

Kenny's mom and other patrons run out of the establishment, leaving only you, your friends, and the remaining members of the umbrella academy Quickly, you and your friends hide behind the shelves that held the bowling balls.

"We gotta stop them," Addison says

"Not this time." You command firmly

"We've fought gunmen before on multiple occasions, we can handle these guys" Lucas states

"No!" You refute "These are not just some run-of-the-mill criminals. These bastards are trained assassins. They will kill you without hesitation and I will not have that."

Your friends all look at each other before looking back at you. As the gunfire rains over you all, Dean asks,

"What's the plan?"

"I'm going to use my powers to get over to that wall and try to manipulate it so you can pretty much platform 9 and 3/4's it and just run through. When I send the signal and you will know what it is, I want Sonata, Spotlight, and Necrotic to run out first because as much as great as you are in this situation you are the most defenseless. Next up I want Hercules and Whiplash to leave." You explain before turning to Dean and saying "Marksman, you'll be last because your ranged archery attacks will help give cover to everyone else if need be."

Your friends nodded at you acknowledging your plan. Typically, they would press a little harder to go and battle but given what they know they decided not to this time. You were their leader and they were going to follow. You look towards the wall not too far away as you prep yourself to get over there. You were nervous because even though the adrenaline in the EpiPen helped you weren't sure how much it would help. On the rare occasions that you had overused your powers when fighting with your friends, Kenny had brought his med bag and was able to provide adrenaline from a vile and increase it as necessary to get you back into fighting shape. The EpiPen only had what was in it and although you felt stronger you had no clue if you would have the durability to do what you needed to do. But you had to try. 

Taking a deep breath you transported your molecules over to the wall and made yourself invisible. Placing a hand on the wall you felt for the molecules, trying to manipulate them in such a way that your non-powered friends could go through. When you felt you had it you quickly grabbed one of the knives on your person and threw it towards the group landing it in the side of the bowling ball shelves. Once your friends recognized your knife, Viktoria, Addison, and Kenny quickly ran out from behind the shelf and through the wall. Once they were all through you threw a second knife to indicate Lucas and Bren to run. You could feel your control of the wall molecules slightly starting to falter as they made their way through. To give more strength to the wall, you pulled a risky move by making yourself visible, but your friend's safety mattered more than yours. Once more you threw a knife but instead of running through the wall Dean stopped and crouched down so he was eye level with you.

"Dean what are you doing you need to go. Get to safety" You state

"I want you to come with us." He states

You look towards the Umbrella Academy and watch as they try to fight against these masked shooters. Looking back at Dean you reply,

"I can't do that, they need me. I need to help them stop the apocalypse." You explain

"But we need you too," Dean says

"I'm sorry...I can't. Make me a promise though." you respond

"Anything." Dean answers

"Promise you'll keep everyone together. If this world ends I at least want to know that none of you were alone." You say

"And if the world survives?" Dean questions

"Go to school tomorrow. We'll meet at my locker."

You could feel your emotion getting the best of you as you knew this could be the last time you saw your friends. You could feel the dread and loneliness that you felt when you had lost the umbrella academy resurface as you realized this. Tears started to build in your eyes and you could feel the emotion causing you to lose your concentration on the wall. 

"go..." you forced out trying not to fully cry

"One second," Dean replied reaching into his pocket

"Dean please-" you begged

You two out in the open was risky enough. The fact that you were losing focus on the wall molecules was even worse. Dean pulls his wallet out and opens it up. He pulls a small rectangle out of it and hands it to you. Grabbing it with the hand that wasn't on the wall you look at it. It was a photo of you and your friends altogether.

"You're our family, so no matter what happens tonight...you won't be without us," Dean explains getting choked up

You can feel the emotion building and your concentration shrinking more. You look at him with a weak smile and sadness in your eyes as you say softly,

"Goodbye, Dean."

"Goodbye, (Y/N)."

With that, he rushes through the wall. You can hear muffled yelling on the other side but you had to push past them. As you let go of your focus on the wall, you see the Hargreeves siblings running down the bowling alley lanes. Jumping to the shelves you grab your knives and place them back on your person before running down a lane yourself. You all quickly run out the back of the alley and toward the uptown of the city. You were headed towards the Icarus Theatre to stop Vanya before it was too late.


	27. The Grand Overture

Five approached the Rain Quail Motel wary of what was in store. Between leaving you and his siblings and having to see the Handler again he didn't want to be here at all. But unfortunately, he really didn't have a choice. He made his way inside the building and cautiously walked down the hallway towards room 12. He could see that one door was left a jar and as he got closer a voice called out from inside the room,

"Five, I've been waiting for you." 

The Handler. 

Of course, she was waiting for him. It felt like she was always one step ahead of him. Five hated it. Slowly, he pushed open the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind him. As he turns his attention to the Handler he saw the lady who owned the donut shop tied up to a chair, her mouth covered with duct tape. He then looks over to the motel bed where the Handler is sitting, dressed in all black.  
  
"You must really like doughnuts." Five comments quietly  
  
"Help me!" Agnes yelled muffled  
  
"It's been a while." The handler replies  
  
"Three days." Five states

"For you, maybe. But for me, it's been a lot longer since I've seen those adorable little shorts."

Her comments made him feel uncomfortable, but he couldn't let them get to him. She already had a home-court advantage by luring him here. He needed to make sure he could compete.  
  
"Well, you've had time to heal." He replies bluntly   
  
"Luckily, for both of us, time is the one thing my organization has an abundance of." The handler remarks as she gets off the bed and walks towards him

  
"Got your message, by the way. Nice packaging, but so much for Commission protocol." Five says holding up the fortune paper  
  
"There have been a lot of changes since you left the Commission. You really did some damage. The briefcases were all but destroyed, to say nothing of the highly trained personnel you killed. After all, what is an institution if not for..." the Handler explains as she inches closer and closer to Five

Five didn't like how close she was to him nor did he want to deal with her rambling. None of what she said mattered, it just ate up his time trying to get back to you and his family. Five looks up at her unamused. Cutting her off he angrily questions,

"What do you want?"  
  
"To be happy. To have a simple unfettered life, to do the work my superiors require. But your being here, well, it complicates all that." The Handler explains

She walks over to a nearby couch and sits down looking at him. Five turns to face her, angered at the fact that she didn't want to do anything to help. Trying to convince her otherwise, Five forcefully states,  
  
"Billions of people are about to die tonight. You can change that."

"Tonight, tomorrow. So little difference in the scheme of things. Don't you remember the Commission's raison d'être? What's meant to be is meant to be, or, as I like to say, que será, será." She replies munching on a fry

  
"It's bullshit in any language. Why did you call me here?" Five questions  
  
"I wanna offer you a choice. Everyone's going to die tonight, but unlike the rest of the world, you have a way out." The Handler explains, vile lacing her voice "You can abandon your family and that pretty little girlfriend of yours and skip ahead to the apocalypse, take a walkabout for a few decades, wondering if I'll come back and offer you a job again, or you can stay here, with them all, and...die a horrible death."

Five's blood boiled at her even mentioning you. He wasn't going to let this evil woman do anything to hurt you.

"Leave my girlfriend out of this!" Five snapped

"While you weigh your options, just know your siblings and girlfriend are fighting for their lives without you." The handler replies leaning back into the couch

This was a trap. There was nothing she wanted from him. The only thing she wanted was to separate him from the rest of you.

"You brought me here to pull me away." Five states enraged

"Y'know I wonder how long your girlfriend can survive before the molecular disturbance your sister is causing kills her." The handler comments "Would be funny if you couldn't save her a second time."

There was nothing but hatred in his heart for this woman. Making a mockery of the pain he experienced. Putting his loved ones at risk. He wasn't going to spare a second more on her. Preparing to spacial jump away Five spat,

"Rot in hell."

And just like that, he was gone. He needed to get back to you and his family as fast as he could. He was going to prove the handler wrong.

\---------

You didn't know how long you had been running since you left but you knew you couldn't stop and you couldn't look back. No matter what was going to happen next you needed to keep moving forward. And so you kept running, running towards a dangerous and uncertain future. You could see the lights of the theatre from down the street and you started to pick up your pace along with the rest of the group. As you arrived at the theatre you and Diego opened up the doors while everyone else ran in. Luther and Allison ran up the stairs first while the rest of you followed behind. As you make it to the top of the stairs Allison stops Luther as you and Diego keep moving past them. You only stop when you hear Luther say,

"Wha...Allison, I can't let you do that, all right? She's beyond reasoning."

You and Diego turn around a walk the few paces back to where everyone else is. Forcefully, Diego yells,

"You hear the music? It's started."

Luther looks to him before looking back at Allison. You can tell from Allison's body language that she is not happy with Luther's protest and you can only assume what he's protesting against.  
  
"Do you honestly think she's gonna listen? After everything that's happened?" Luther questions

"We don't have time for this," Klaus complains

Luther takes a deep breath before looking at Allison  
  
"Okay." He replies softly

You watch as Allison stares at him for a second before turning and running off alone. You knew how much Allison wanted to be a good sister to Vanya but for once you agreed with Luther. Vanya was beyond reasoning. She brought down the house with no care for who was inside it. If Allison was still in her room she would've been blown up into a billion little pieces the way you almost were. As you watched Allison disappear Diego remarks,  
  
"You're using her as a distraction, aren't you?"  
  
"It's our best chance to incapacitate Vanya." Luther responds "She'll thank us later."

Luther and Diego make their way up the stairs to follow Allison into the actual theatre with you and Klaus following behind. As you all walk Klaus asks,

"So, what's the plan?"

"Uh, you wait out front," Luther responds

"What?" Klaus questions confused

"Yeah, you're the lookout." Luther states  
  
"The lookout?" Klaus exclaims

"And what about me?" You ask

"Stay with Klaus." Luther commands

"You can't be serious." You retort starting to walk up the stairs "Diego, let's go"

As you try to pass Diego he places a hand out in front of you to stop you.

"I'm with Luther on this one princess."

You look at him, taken aback at what he said. He places a hand on your back and guides you back to the bottom of the stairs. When you and Diego stop moving you look up at him confused.

"I don't understand." You tell him

"I can't let you come with us. I almost lost you earlier and...." Diego days before pausing

He places his hands on your shoulders. You can feel his hands shake slightly and his eyes become slightly misty as he collects himself. Looking you in the eyes he quietly says,

"You're all I have left."

You look down before looking back up at him and nodding. You would stay with Klaus. Diego nods and pulls you into a hug. Placing his head on top of yours he quietly says,

"Don't worry, Eggo is gonna make everything better."

"You always do." You reply

Both of you take a step back breaking the hug and give each other small nods. Both of you then turn away and head your separate ways, you with Klaus to be lookout and Diego and Luther to go stop Vanya. You walk over to Ben who was sitting on the top of a fancy trashcan. 

"I swear Luther treats us like we're useless." You complain

Klaus looks towards you confused. Maybe he had misheard what you said?

"We're?" He asks

"Yes, we're. why?" You question back

"You don't...think I'm useless?" Klaus replies 

"Of course not Klaus. You're not useless, and you never have been." You explain "The family pushes you off like you mean nothing and contribute nothing meaningful just because you have an issue with illicit substances."

Klaus was surprised and also touched. Nobody took him seriously. It seemed like everyone thought that he had no value and was just dragging people behind.

"You really think so?" Klaus asks

"Of course. Now granted, sometimes you truly are an idiot but even then I still know that you mean well. Without you, we wouldn't have Ben here," You state gesturing to Ben "but more importantly, we wouldn't have the full Hargreeves family without you. You're not useless Klaus, you're strong and when the time comes you'll prove it to the rest of them."

Klaus doesn't know how to deal with such kind words, even as a kid no one was quite nice to him. Well, except for you. You were always nice to everyone. It's been a while since anyone actually positively thought of him. The last person to see him so positively was...Dave. Klaus' felt overwhelmed and he needed to get away.

"You know what, I'm starving after all that running. I saw a burrito truck across the street so I think I'm going to go grab one!" Klaus quickly says before making his way downstairs and back outside

"Klaus! Come back!" You call out

There's no reply. He was already gone.

"Did I say something wrong?" You ask Ben

"No, you didn't do anything. Klaus does what Klaus does, I wouldn't dwell on it too much." Ben answers

"Well, so much for being lookouts..." You mumble

The two of you are silent as you listen to the music coming from the theatre. You hoped whatever they were going to do in there, that it would stop Vanya from destroying the world. Ben turns to his head to look at you and asks,

"Can I ask you a question?" 

"Of course." You reply turning your attention to him

"If you didn't jump through time with Five, what do you think would've happened with us?" He questions

"I'm not quite sure. I never really thought about it before." You answer

You thought about it for a second. About all the things that would've been different if you had never jumped through time.

"If I never jumped through time, I'd still have my parents, I would be the same age as all of you, I could've kept your dad in line so you all would be less traumatized, and maybe you'd still be alive." You tell him 

You pause once more before adding,

"But then again there would've been things I missed out on. I'd never meet my school friends, I wouldn't be Diego's little sister, I'd never get to experience having Grace as a mother, and I probably wouldn't have gotten together with Five. There's a lot of things that I have now that would've never happened if I didn't jump through time."

"Do you think that if you were still around to keep our father at bay and to be friends with Vanya that we'd be in this situation right now?" Ben presses

You look Ben straight in the face as you answer,

"I don't know. Perhaps this all could have been avoided, perhaps it couldn't. The thing is we'll never truly know and even if we did there's nothing we can do about it now. As they say ''when the going gets tough, the tough get going'' y'know?"

"JFK's father said that." Ben states

"Correct. Look at the mind on you, even after all these years." You compliment

Ben smiles to himself. Always so kind and positive even in the worst of times. He admired it greatly, it was a skill neither he nor his siblings ever got to learn. Ben then noticed that it had been a while and Klaus still had not returned. Concerned that he chickened out and decided to run away from this Ben decided to go find him.

"I'm going to check on Klaus," Ben tells you

"Alright. I'll keep guard here." You reply

And just like that, he had disappeared and you were alone. Taking a seat upon the trashcan that Ben was sitting on you look around trying your best to play lookout when there was no action going on. At least there was no action going on out here. You knew anything that was going to happen was going to be in there. But you sat anyway as you listened to the music coming from the stage. You could hear the sound of Vanya's violin dancing through the air. The vibrations of the notes resonating throughout your body. She had a gift for music, and it was beautiful. It was extraordinary. Happily, you sat there listening, thinking that maybe, just maybe Vanya could be stopped without the need for violence. 

But then the music stopped and within a second's time, a wave of disturbance hit you knocking you off the trashcan. You fell to the floor as you heard the screams of people from the theatre. As the crowds of people rushed down out of the concert hall and towards the exit of the theatre you forced yourself over towards the wall and pulled your knees to your chest. You were trying your best not to get trampled on as you tried to steady your breathing. As the crowds of people ran by screaming for their lives you could feel a disturbance building. The music became more intense as the tempo of the piece picked up and with each note played the disturbance grew. You tried your best to collect yourself so you could get up to go in and help the rest of the Hargreeves. They needed you. 

As you gathered your strength you saw men with guns, the same ones from the bowling alley, making their way through the crowd of terrified people into the concert hall. You needed to get to them and quick, no matter what was going on with you. Forcing yourself up off the ground you leaned against the trashcan trying to balance your body but another wave of energy forced you back down to your knees. Using one arm to keep yourself up, you wrapped the other around your waist as you felt the pain of the growing disturbance going through you. You took deep breaths and grit your teeth as you pulled yourself off the ground. You continued to hold on to your side as you stumbled through the crowds of people running, bumping into many of them as you tried to stay on your feet. Each step towards the concert hall became more difficult than the last and it felt like your body had been set on fire. As you tried to make your way up the stairs your knees gave out from underneath you. Slowly, you forced yourself to crawl up the stairs no matter how much your body screamed against it. Movement by movement you got closer to the theatre as you tried to ignore the signals your pain receptors were sending out. 

You stopped outside the doorway of the concert hall and peered into it. You saw Vanya and the gunmen. You heard the sound of bullets and the violin sound throughout the building. You needed to get to Vanya. You had to stop her strength from growing. You heard Diego's voice in your head recalling the words he said to you only a few days ago.

_Just breathe, you're stronger than this. I know you can do it._

You were stronger than this. You were stronger than every ounce of pain you were in. And so you slowed your breathing down and steadied your heart. You looked towards Vanya and where you wanted to go. Concentrating you tried your best to transport your molecules to where she was. It didn't work though, instead of landing near her on the stage your powers gave out and you ended up in between two of the front few rows. You cried out as a shock of pain coursed throughout you as if your body was retaliating for even daring to use your powers. As the music played and the gunfire rang out you thought you could hear the sounds of yelling from behind you but you were unable to move from the floor. As Vanya's power grew so did your suffering and with your close proximity to the stage, it didn't make things any better. You went from feeling like you were on fire to feeling like a billion knives were being jabbed into you and twisted around. You cried out in pain hoping someone would make it stop.

As you tried to fight against the pain you were experiencing Five finally arrived at the theatre. Spacial jumping into the concert hall he looked around for you but you were nowhere to be seen and then he heard it, the sound of you crying out in pain. It sent a chill down his spine and his body was ready to race into action to get to you until bullets flew past him.

"Five, get down!" Luther yelled at him

Ducking for cover in between rows of seats Five looks towards his brother. 

"Five, what the- I thought you bailed on us!" Luther adds  
  
"I had an errand to run." Five replies before looking around and saying "This is not good."

"You know these guys?" Diego asks

"Yeah, I do." Five states  
  
"And?" Diego presses

Five watches as more gunmen file into the concert hall. There were so many of them. Some in the balconies, some in the aisles, definitely more than they could take on themselves.  
  
"Well... we're screwed." Five answers

Using a few of his knives Diego takes out a couple of guys firing from upstairs. It's still not enough though. As the gunmen approach where they were all hiding Five hears someone call out,

"Guys, it's Cha-Cha! It's Cha-Cha, she..."

"Klaus! Get down! Get down!" Luther yells to him

Klaus drops to his knees as gunfire rains over them all. The bullets pelting through the air and coming closer Five spacial jumps onto the back of one of the gunmen, turning him around and causing him to shoot some of his teammates. Klaus covered his ears, the sound of gunfire bringing back memories he didn't want to re-live. He wanted it to stop. He needed it to stop. But what could he do, he couldn't do anything. And then he recalled what you said earlier to him.

_You're not useless Klaus, you're strong and when the time comes you'll prove it to the rest of them_

He was strong. He was useful and he was going to do something to stop these guys. Summoning his strength he watched as his hands started to glow blue. He knew what he was doing. Continuing to focus on his power he manifested his brother. Ben looked around at the scene and as he once did in life he lifted his shirt and let the four tentacles from the other dimension come through. Grabbing each of the gunmen the tentacles broke their necks and ripped them apart so that they could no longer fire their guns. The rest of the siblings looked on in astonishment. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Oh, my God. It's him. Ben." Luther said aloud

Even as the gunfire ceased Vanya's powers still grew and so did your pain. You dug your nails into your arms and sides leaving nasty red scratches as you tried to feel something other than the molecular disturbance around you. You screamed out as your body tried to redistribute the disturbance Vanya was creating. A never-ending stream of molecules rushing in and out of you at an indescribable speed. The ground began to shake and the foundation of the building started to crumble. She was becoming too strong and there was nothing you could do. Tears streamed down your face and you gasped for air as the weight of the disturbance started to crush you from all sides, both outside of you and in. It was like you were being ripped apart and crushed all at the same time.

With Vanya seeming to near the end of the piece the group needed to stop her soon. Huddling together behind the seats of the theatre, they came together as a family one more time.  
  
"So, how do you wanna end this thing?" Diego asks  
  
"We surround her. All right? We come at her from all angles." Luther explains  
  
"So it's a suicide mission." Klaus comments  
  
"Yeah, but one of us could get through. It's the only chance we've got." Five adds

"Are we all in?" Luther asks

Everyone nods their heads yes except Allison. Luther ignored her protest though. Vanya needed to be stopped. If not then it was game over, and all the work they did was for nothing. They had to pull a hail mary at this point because there was no other choice. Pointing towards Diego Luther states,  
  
"Stage left."

He then points to himself and says.

"Stage right."

Turning to Five and Klaus he finishes,  
  
"You guys take the front."  
  
Five takes off running towards the front of the stage and as he approaches he finds you in between two of the rows. His eyes go wide as he kneels over you. Your body shaking from all the energy coursing in and out of you. He takes your head in his hands and looks you in the eyes as you continue to gasp for air. Five's heart races as he watches you suffer this pain knowing the only way to stop it was to stop Vanya. Blood started to drip from your nose and the places on your arms and sides where you had scratched earlier started to tear open as your body struggled to force the energy out fast enough. You were coming undone.

"I'm going to stop this mon amour, I swear I am." Five tells you

You couldn't respond, all you could do was let the tears from your eyes flow. As he holds you he can hear Luther yell out,

"NOOOOW!!"

Placing a kiss on your forehead he states,

"I'm going to come back. I promise."

And with that, he jumps away to run towards the stage. He and his brothers run towards Vanya, all of them trying to take her down. None of them get close enough though. With a wave of her violin bow, she sends another shockwave out through the theatre. You scream out once more in pain as blood starts to stop from the tears on your body. The music had stopped but the energy Vanya was producing only continued. Your vision started to blur but you could see as the Hargreeves boys including your beloved Five hung suspended in the air by tentacles of energy. There was nothing you could do. You felt weak and things felt hopeless. Your eyes started to roll back and you felt like giving in but then you felt another energy over you. A calmer one. Then a voice called out,

"No, no, no. Stay with me (Y/N)."

It was Ben's voice. You forced your eyes to stay open as you looked at where his face would be. You tried holding on but it was so difficult. Ben saw as your eyes started to roll back again. He tried his best to grab your hand with his as he stated,

"It won't be much longer (Y/N), but you have to stay with us. We all need you. Diego needs you. Five needs you. I need you."

You pushed through keeping yourself conscious as best as you could and then there came a sound. A gunshot. Only a few seconds after a shockwave of energy flew over all of your heads and out into the sky. And then everything stopped, and there was silence. You started taking deep breaths in as your body started to calm down but you were tired and weak. You saw Five lean over you again but his words were muffled as your consciousness started to fade in and out. You were in rough shape and he knew it. He tried telling you that you would be okay but you didn't respond.

"Diego! Come help me!" Five called out

Quickly, Diego made his way over to where you and Five were. Diego was horrified at the state that you were in. He said he was going to make it all better and yet here you were teetering on the edge of death because of Vanya's powers.

"Diego, can you help carry her?" Five asked

Diego nodded snd with Five's help they got you onto his back so he could carry you just like the plenty of times he did before. The two of them along with the barely conscious you made your way to the stage where Allison cradled Vanya's head in her lap.

"Is she alive?" Luther questions

Allison places two fingers on her neck and checks for a pulse. When she finds one she looks up at Luther and nods yes.

"Oh, thank God," Klaus says relieved

"We did it. We saved the world." Luther exclaims  
  
The group of you celebrate the victory but Luther spoke too soon. Klaus looks behind him and up in the sky, he sees a giant flaming chunk of the moon falling down towards them. Standing up he walks a bit away from the group before commenting,  
  
"Uh... Guys? You see that big Moon rock coming towards us?" 

Luther and Diego approach him as they look at the sky.

"That's not good." Luther states

"So this is it, huh? So much for saving the world." Klaus replies  
  
"If only Sir Reginald could see us right now, huh? The Umbrella Academy. A total failure." Diego adds

"At least we're together at the end. As a family." Luther replies

To Five this couldn't be the end. There was something he could do to protect his family. To protect you. It was crazy but it was all they had left.

"This doesn't have to be the end." He shouts to his siblings

His siblings look at him, curious as to what this frantic old man teenager had to say.  
  
"What? What are you saying, Five?" Luther questions  
  
"I think I have a way outta here. But you gotta trust me on this." Five explains  
  
"I don't know Five," Luther replies unsure

"Well, then, we might as well accept our fate, because, in less than a minute, we're gonna be vaporized." Five remarks

Diego knew that if you weren't so beat up you would listen to what Five had to say. Giving him the benefit of the doubt Diego asks,

"What's your idea, then?"   
  
"We use my ability to time travel. But this time, I'll take you all with me." Five states  
  
"You can do that?" Diego questions

"I don't know. I've never tried it before." Five replies  
  
"What's the worst that can happen?" Diego comments  
  
"You're lookin' at it. A 58-year-old man inside a teenager's body, so there's that." Five answers  
  
"Oh, what the hell? I'm in." Diego states "And I know (Y/N) would be too if she could reply."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm in." Klaus adds  
  
"Me too." Luther says before asking "Allison?"

She nods her head to him and he turns to ask Klaus,  
  
"What about Ben?"

Klaus looks at Ben who gives him a nod. Turning back to Luther he replies,

"Great, yeah, he's in."  
  
"Okay, great. Luther, grab Vanya." Five commands

Luther leans down and takes the completely unconscious Vanya into his arms. As the group of siblings stands in a circle Luther questions,  
  
"Wait, should we be taking her? I mean, if she's the cause of the apocalypse. Isn't that like taking the bomb with us?"

"The apocalypse will always happen and Vanya will always be the cause unless we take her with us and fix her." Five replies

Luther nods his head and you all stand in a circle and for the first time since you and Five disappeared all eight of you were back together truly as a group once more. As you stand in a circle you take each other's hand so you're all connected. Reaching out Five takes your hand in his, and with the strength you have left, you squeeze his hand to let him know you're there. With the reassurance from you squeezing his hand he starts to concentrate on his power. Slowly a blue light starts to surround you all as Five opens up a portal through time. You let out a groan as the disturbance of the portal causes your body to go on high alert again. 

"You're gonna be okay kiddo." Diego states

You softly nod your head as you try to push through the pain but as the portal grows you can feel yourself losing consciousness. You try to keep yourself present and as you do you hear Luther yell,  
  
"It's working! 

"Hold on! It's gonna get messy!" Five replies

You couldn't really tell what was going on but you felt a change. At one moment you felt the disturbance and then you didn't. You did feel yourself falling though. After a few seconds, you hit the ground. You had no energy to stay awake and as you closed your eyes you heard the sound of a woman scream. Then everything went black.

__________

You tossed your head back and forth as you started to become conscious. You could hear beeping sounds and voices far away. A dull pain pulsed through your body as you continued to wake. You could hear the sound of fast footsteps and a muffled voice to your right. You couldn't understand what they were saying though. Slowly, you started to open your eyes as bright light crept in.

With your vision still blurry you turned your attention to the sound of the voice speaking. Confused about what was going on theories of what happened ran through your mind. As your vision came into focus you clearly looked at the speaker before you. Your eyes widened as you stared at them for a moment.

"Mom?"


	28. Ben's Journal - A Timeless Side Piece

**October 1st, 2002:**

This is the first entry in my new journal. (Y/N) got it for me for our birthday today.

Today was an interesting day. Personally, I didn't like how it started off. Sure, going on our first mission was kind of exciting because we were finally able to prove what we had been training for all these years, but it was uncomfortable to use my powers. Everyone else seemed so much more comfortable with their powers and fighting off the robbers at the bank. Even (Y/N) was able to fight and subdue them like it was nothing. And she had only been practicing with us for about 8 months! She blew off a man's head with no hesitation to protect Five. Would I ever be able to do that? I could barely fight the guys in the vault without feeling uneasy about it. Luther had to force me into doing it. I hate every minute though. There was so much blood. At least (Y/N) was there to cheer me up since she ended covered in blood as well from protecting Five. She's really sweet. 

I just want to do well like my siblings and prove myself to Dad but I'm just not comfortable with the darkness inside me. Literally inside me. I was given the name of The Horror by my father. How can I ever be comfortable with what I was given when I'm constantly reminded about the monstrosity I am. I wish I could live a normal childhood. I always wondered what a normal childhood would be like but today was nice because I got a glimpse of it. 

Today was actually the first birthday that felt like a birthday to me. Instead of Dad just congratulating us on being alive another year we actually had reason to celebrate. We had presents and cake and actually celebrated something for once. My siblings actually felt like siblings for once and the academy felt like home. There was a warmth in it because of (Y/N) being here. She helped us become a family (excluding our Dad, but still).

I hope we have more days like this. Days that feel warm and the academy feels like home.

**October 26th, 2002:**

Thank god I have this journal because I don't where else I could put this. I'm tired of holding it in. I think I have a crush on (Y/N).

No, I don't think I do. I know I do. 

Can I really be blamed though? Sure, she's the first girl I've ever met from outside the family so that might be a factor but...she's so much more than that. She's so pretty and intelligent, I could listen to or speak with her on any topic forever and never grow tired of it. I don't know about my siblings and me but I bet she could get a full-ride to an amazing university one day like Berkley. More importantly, she really cares about all of us in the Academy. She cares about me. She takes the time to be with me and just listen. She's listened for hours about all the feelings I struggle with in terms of being a part of the Academy and my powers and she gets it. She's not just the first girl I've met outside of the Academy, she's the best girl I could've met, she has powers that she struggles with too. She gets it. 

It's been difficult keeping this to myself though. I've wanted to tell someone about it but who? All I know is my siblings, Dad, Mom, Pogo, and (Y/N). Obviously, I'm not going to tell (Y/N). That would be insane. I can't tell my Dad because there's a chance he'd ban her from coming over because she would be a distraction. Then again, he sees her as an asset in our training so maybe not, but knowing that god awful man I wouldn't put it past him. I can't tell Mom and Pogo because as much as I trust them they bend to Dad's will and then we'd be back to square one. And I definitely can't tell any of my siblings about it because word would spread fast. Klaus and Allison are such gossips with each other that they'd blab before the day was done. Luther and Diego would probably tease me if they found out. And Vanya, well I don't really see her enough to talk about it. 

Honestly, the main reason I'm keeping it a secret is because if Five found out I had feelings for her too he would kill me before I could even see it coming. I don't know that for sure, but I could definitely see it happening. (Y/N) is _his_ best friend and he is so obviously in love with her. I mean he admitted it himself after it was coaxed out of him. He would do anything for her and wouldn't let anything come between the two of them. If something did well then I can only guess that he'd do everything he could to make it right, not for himself, but for her. It's selfish of me to think so but sometimes I wish he would just disappear. Maybe if he was out of the picture and it was just her and I things could be different.

But I know that won't happen. So for now the only thing that will ever know I feel this way is this journal.

**Undated Entry, 2002:**

It's been over three weeks since Five disappeared but it's also been over three weeks since (Y/N) has shown up. Some of us are starting to expect the worse and that both of them are gone. I really hope that's not the case but her parents went on TV recently, tears in their eyes begging for information and tips that could lead to her being found. My concern is that she was dragged into something Five did and neither of them is coming back. He was complaining about wanting to time travel that one day and my mind can't help but wonder and think about the numerous outcomes that could've happened. I try to think of something else, I try to immerse myself in books and training, but I can't take my mind off them. I at least hope that whatever happened they're together and that they're okay.

Their disappearances have really affected us here at the academy. Not only did we lose our sibling but we lost our only friend. Everyone is coping differently with it. Klaus has indulged himself in drinking more. Allison and Luther have been spending more time away from everyone else trying to comfort each other. Vanya stays away in her room playing her violin and well here I am writing.

Diego has probably taken (Y/N)'s disappearance the worst. He doesn't sleep anymore. He spends his days training and going out on missions, but at night he sneaks out and tries to figure out where she went and what happened to her. He could care less for Five and since there's a high chance that Five is the reason they're both gone he's extremely pissed. He saw (Y/N) as his sister more than he saw any of us as siblings. I don't blame him, she was more like family to us than we were and are to each other. If anything we're less like family now with those two gone.

Dad has commissioned a gentleman named Charles Anderson to paint a memorial portrait of Five. Diego got in a fight with him over it saying that it disrespects (Y/N) to not have the portrait be of the both of them. I agree with him, she is just as important to the academy as Five, but I didn't say anything because I don't want to get in trouble.

I've started drawing tally marks under my desk for each day that Five and (Y/N) have been missing. I'm really hoping that I can stop drawing them soon.

**June 7th, 2004:**

It's been over a year since (Y/N) and Five went missing. The amount of tally marks under my desk has grown so much to the point where I've started using a red sharpie to indicate weeks and not days anymore. Hopefully, it'll save me space until they get back.

The Academy hasn't been the same since they left. In all honesty, it's gotten worse than it ever was before we met (Y/N), and it was bad before she came around. Dad has gotten increasingly harsher on us and every mistake we make is worthy of his unbridled ridicule. This place isn't home and these people are barely family to me now. Sure, I still call them my brothers and sisters, but the glue that brought us together has all but faded away. 

The portrait of Five was finished and unveiled to us today. The realism of Mr. Andeerson's painting is well done but it just doesn't feel right. The expression on his face is somber and his gaze is empty. It's like Dad specifically requested to make him a shell of who he was. If he had any respect for who Five was before he went missing there would be a smile on his face, a light in his eyes, and (Y/N) in the portrait by his side. Or at least in a solo portrait beside his.

Diego is still angry that she doesn't have a portrait nor was included in Five's. The day it was unveiled he threw another fit exclaiming that not having one for her disrespects her memory and that Dad is acting like she never existed. He avoids the parlor completely at this point so he doesn't have to look at our brother who took his "sister" away from him. Sometimes I can hear him crying in his room and Mom trying to comfort him that she'll come back one day. He still hasn't stopped sneaking out to investigate. It's been over a year and he's still at square one. He's too stubborn to give up hope that she'll come back. I think he never will give up hope.

That's not to say that I've given up hope but I do acknowledge the possibility that it might never happen. It's not the outcome I want but at some point, you have to be realistic about things. I'm writing this entry as I sit below Five's portrait next to the fireplace. I can't help but wonder what it's like to just be a faint memory. To have a work of art be the only thing that is left of you. I hope I never find out that answer.

**October 1st, 2005:**

Today is my siblings and I's 16th birthday and it is just as uneventful as years prior. Dad congratulated us on being alive another year and that was it from him. Grace at least tried to make it somewhat nice by baking a cake but no one was in the mood to celebrate. None of us have enjoyed our birthday since we were thirteen. It's become more of a somber day.

I think the only person who might have a good time is Klaus. He's probably going to sneak out to do drugs with some strangers in an alley. He says "it takes the edge off" and I kind of get it. Life here is hell in general, but October 1st is the worst. If I could just forget my problems and have a bit of euphoria on this day I would but I'm not going to resort to drugs or alcohol to do that. It's not healthy but I can't stop him.

I wonder what our birthday would be like today if (Y/N) and Five were still here. We'd probably be having a great big party because (Y/N) pushed our dad to allow it. It would still be the eight of us but I bet it would be a big deal. The girls would get dressed up Sweet 16 style and I guess my brothers and I would as well. Not in dresses though...well maybe Klaus would, I'm not sure. It would probably be a great time. But that's not the case.

(Y/N)'s parents moved away recently, I don't know where to. Nobody does. It's like they've gone totally off the grid. I can't imagine how hard it was living without their child. Three years of trying to figure out what happened to them, the worst of thoughts popping into your mind. Hell, I do it sometimes but it must be so much worse having those thoughts as a parent. Diego has switched up from looking for (Y/N) to trying to track down her parents. He still thinks she's going to come back and when she does he'll know exactly where her parents are. He hasn't found anything yet.

I don't get why he's been so adamant about this all these years. I guess it gives him some sort a purpose. Maybe it makes him feel like a hero because he lives in Luther's shadow. Maybe he does it for the same reason I write in this journal she gave me. Because it's all we have left and we don't want to forget. I'm not sure exactly what his reason is for doing it but I don't want to forget and so I'll keep writing in this journal and keeping my tally marks.

**Undated Entry, 2006:**

The alarm calling us to get ready for a mission is going off again today as I write this. I don't know why I don't want to go. I've been going on missions for years and have gotten used to them, but today I don't know...something feels off. My gut tells me I shouldn't but I have no choice. I'd be dead if I don't do what Dad says and go on the mission. 

I'll be back later to update this entry but for now, I'm locking my journal away in my drawer.


	29. Welcome To The 60's

"Mom? Well, I've never heard that one before." The woman before you responded

Your heart dropped as you heard the sound of a southern accent lace her words. This wasn't the woman who raised you for five years. This wasn't your mom. This was just someone who looked like her. Exactly like her. You looked away, trying to hide the disappointment in your eyes.

"My apologies...you look just like my mother who passed away." You respond quietly

You can feel the bed dip a bit as a gentle hand is placed on your shoulder. In a comforting tone, she replies,

"Oh sweetie, don't you apologize, you've done nothing wrong. I'm sorry about your late mother but I'm sure it would put a smile on her face to know that you're finally awake and still with this world."

"Finally awake?"

"I found you alone, passed out, and bleeding in an alley just after midnight on New Years Day. You've been in a coma for a week. I've come in every day to make sure that you were doing alright." she explains

A week after New Years Day? But that would be January 8th. It was April 1st when the apocalypse happened. It was Kenny's birthday. It was the day of Vanya's concert. January 8th? You thought about how this could happen and then you faintly remembered the decision the group made. You all agreed to have Five travel you through time. You remembered holding Five's hand as you felt the disturbance of opening a wormhole through time and then nothing else. But if you had traveled through time...where did you end up? You turned to look at the woman sitting next to you.

"What year is it?" You question confused

"Oh, you must've really hit your head. Today is January 8th, 1960." She replies

"1960?!" You say surprised

You sit up quickly but just as rapidly you feel pain shoot through your body. You let out a groan as you lean back onto your raised bed.

"Oh, you need to be careful! You're still covered in injuries." The woman exclaims concerned

And that's when you finally took a look at yourself. Your arms were covered in bandages and one of your wrists was in a cast. You could feel the fabric of more bandaging wrapped around your waist and a dull pulse of pain continue through your body from you quickly sitting up.

"Y'know the doctor said you were lucky to be alive with all of these wounds."

You definitely believed the doctor's words because your body had been put through some pretty traumatic stuff that night. You closed your eyes as you tried to relax and come to terms with your injuries but as you did memories of that night flashed through your mind. Your eyes shot open as the woman looked at you.

"Are you okay darling?" She asked

"I'll be okay..." You replied shakily

"Well alright." She replies before saying "My goodness, I never introduced myself. You must think I'm some crazy woman. My name is Grace."

You tilted your head in disbelief and blinked your eyes in confusion. Her name is Grace? Could your former assumption be incorrect? Maybe this wasn't a woman who looked like your mom, but this was actually her. It was the same name, same blonde hair, same caring eyes, and joyful smile. It could be your mom. But how? It didn't make sense but neither did anything else that occurred since the funeral. You had no clue if this could truly be your mom or not, but given the circumstances of everything else, it was the least of your concerns.

"I'm (Y/N)..." You slowly reply still trying to process what she had said

"Well (Y/N), do you have any family in the area? Like I said you were alone when I found you in that alley a week ago."

Wait. You were alone? But you were holding on to Five's hand and Diego was carrying you on his back. If you were alone then something must've gone wrong. What if having so many people was too much for Five's powers? What if they were all trapped in the time wormhole? What if they were...no. You didn't want to think of that as an option. But if nobody was there, then you were alone. And truly alone this time. There was no one who knew you, no one who already cared for you. You'd have to start over the same way you were found by Grace...alone. You take a deep breath and look at her,

"I don't have anyone. All my friends and family are gone."

Grace gives you a sad look and rubs her hand up and down your arm.

"Oh you poor thing, having a life struck by so much tragedy."

She was absolutely right. Your life was struck by tragedy, consistent, terrible, tragedies with some little commercial breaks in between. If you were in ancient Greece they'd write plays about your experiences. And right after you had built your life up again, there it went, all your progress ripped away. You can feel your hair gently being stroked.

"I know you just met me but once you get out of this hospital would you like to come stay with me? After all, you've been through I don't want you sent back on the streets." Grace offers

You look to meet her gaze. A small smile plays upon your face as you nod your head yes. You didn't have the words to express your gratitude because how could you thank someone you just met for giving you some sense of familiarity for a person and home that doesn't exist. You couldn't thank her for something that hasn't even happened yet, so all you did is nod. She shoots you a smile as she gets off of your hospital bed.

"Well then, I'll go talk to the doctor then, to see when you can be released," Grace replied

You watched as she walked out of the room. Letting out a sigh you looked at the bright lights on your ceiling and hoped that if there was a god, the Hargreeves siblings were not with them. You couldn't do anything right now but once you had your strength you were going to figure out what happened. They had to come back and you were going to make sure of it.

_____________________

The doctors said it would take another two weeks of observation and being in the hospital for you to get well enough that they were okay with releasing you. During that time, Grace visited you every day and you had learned more about your location. You were in 1960s Dallas, Texas. Why was this where you arrived? You had no clue. Specifically, you were in the Parkland Memorial Hospital, the one where future president John F. Kennedy would die, but you weren't going to tell Grace that. The man hadn't even been elected yet since the 1960 election wasn't until November and you didn't want to get thrown into a mental institution for claiming such things. Only an _idiot_ would do that. You also found out that Grace was working with NASA to help get the United States off the ground and into the stars. They really hadn't made any progress yet but Grace was hopeful they would figure something out.

After you had been released Grace took you back to her apartment. It was small, unlike what you had been used to most of your life, but it was homey. There was a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. You could hear the Italian neighbors next door yelling at each other through the walls. The sounds of the passing cars and people outside. It was nice. You had become so accustomed to silence when you were living in the academy that the constant background noise was a welcome change. Anyway, you didn't know if you would be able to deal with the silence. And then there was Grace to talk to, but something odd kept happening as you did. This Grace's voice started sounding like your old Grace's voice. At first, it only happened once in a while but as the weeks went on and you acknowledged it more it became more constant. You realized that you were manipulating the molecules in the air to change how her voice sounded. It was unintentional when it started but the longer it went on the more intentional it became.

You knew that it was wrong to switch her voice to that of someone who didn't exist, but it made you feel less alone. It made you feel safer to have that familiarity. But that familiarity didn't change the situation you were in. This woman was but a kind stranger with a familiar face and you were trying to shape your reality to what you wanted rather than what it was. You were happy you couldn't manipulate visuals because you know if you could you'd be living in a legitimate fantasy world rather than reality. You were running away from your issues, grabbing onto any shred of normalcy that you could but you needed to move on. You had to because this was only holding you back.

Trying to use your pain to be productive you decided you would channel your frustrations into figuring out what happened to the rest of the Hargreeves. Looking around the living room you search for something to write on. As you open the side table drawer you shift the miscellaneous items around searching inside it. Lo and behold underneath some photos there was an empty notebook for you to use. Grabbing it and a pencil you sit down and start to quickly jot down numbers and form equations. After all your years of education, at the private school you went to before Five ran away, living with Reginald, and your own personal inquiries you liked to think you knew a thing or two about science and mathematics. You tried to start with the equations that featured the variables you knew which was really just variables about yourself. Once you had that figured out though you just started running with it and without even noticing you had filled out a couple of pages worths of writing.

As you vigorously scribbled down your ideas and flipped pages, Grace came into the room. Curious, she approached you and looked over your shoulder to see what you were so caught up with. She was taken aback at the sight of complex long-form equations being written down with such fervor. Carefully, as not to startle you, she placed a gentle hand on your shoulder and called,

"(Y/N)?"

Pulled out of your trance you stop writing and look towards her.

"Yes, Mom?- I mean...sorry. Grace." You stumble out

"It's alright sweetie. What are you writing there?" She inquires

You look down towards the notebook and see the flurry of filled out pages, finally realizing how much you had written down. Numbers and decimals and equations littered the pages alone with some barely legible notes. Huh. You really had a lot of pain to be productive with. You then realized Grace was still waiting for a response. You couldn't let her know what it truly was about but this Grace worked for NASA so you knew she would call your bluff if you tried lying.

"It's a theoretical equation," You stated nervously before adding, "...for fun."

 _Wow...real convincing (Y/N)_ , you think to yourself.

"May I take a look at it?"

"Uh...sure." You respond slowly handing her the notebook

Grae carefully flips through your many pages, reading each and every bit of what you had written down, surprised at the complexity of your equation. Looking between you and the notebook she realizes that you're not just some nice girl she found but a legitimate genius. Grace walks to the other side of the couch you were on and sits down next to you.

"(Y/N), this is some high-level, extremely advanced mathematics. Where did you learn this?" Grace asks

"I was privately educated for years by my respective guardians at the time, but on top of that I attended school and studied on my own as well." You answer

Her eyes go wide with shock. Who was this girl? Where did she come from? Grace only somewhat believed in destiny but with an intellect like yours maybe you were the key to figuring out how the US could test out the waters of space. Maybe if she brought you to the next board meeting they could finally figure out a plan to get America off the ground. And with all the influential people on that board, Grace could get you to even better places in life, it's what you deserved after all you had been through. Pulling herself back to reality Grace looks at you and asks,

"How would you like to come with me to work tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a nice change of pace."

"Well then, it's a plan," Grace says

Standing up from the couch she hands the notebook back to you and starts to walk to the kitchen to make dinner. As she does she looks back and says,

"I'm excited to see what you do next."

You smiled with pride before turning back to your notebook and working once again. When dinner was ready you brought your notebook to show Grace what you had accomplished since she last looked at it. Two dozen more pages were filled front and back with notes and numbers, it was quite a sight to behold. Once dinner had finished though you and Grace had both went to sleep.

Waking up in the morning you excitedly got ready to go do something for once. Ever since Grace brought you to live at her place you really didn't do much. For most of the time you were injured and could barely get around, but once you were able to get up on your two feet you had gone out with Grace and done little things here and there like shopping for new clothes. Overall though, you never really left the apartment. But today would be different and new. Trying to fit in with the fashion of the time you put on a nice casual dress and a pair of flats. As you looked at yourself in the mirror you slowly placed your hand on the glass but quickly retracted it as you remembered what happened the last time you got too enthralled with a mirror. Turning away you made your way to the front door and waited for Grace. Looking around you saw the calendar and counted how many days you had been in 1960. Today was February 11th, 1960 which meant that you had been here for 42 days.

"Ready to go?" Grace called behind you

You turned away from the calendar and nodded. The two of you then made your way out of the apartment and to her car. As she drives down the street you look around at the city of Dallas. If you were going to be here a while then you at least hoped that you'd get to look around. Hell, if you made it to November of 1963 you could watch Kennedy get assassinated. You didn't really want to be here that long but damn to see that live would be interesting. As Grace drove you closed your eyes feeling the motion of the car. It was calming, feeling the rhythmic movement of the molecules. You smiled to yourself a bit as you continued on but then you started to feel a churning in your stomach. It never happened before but maybe you were just having motion sickness. You closed your eyes tighter hoping it would go away but as Grace drove forward the slight churning evolved into a sharp pain. This wasn't motion sickness, no this feeling was familiar. Your eyes opened and you looked around frantically but there was nothing. And just like that, the feeling vanished. Grace looked over at your panicked figure.

"Aw sweetie, you getting a bit nervous since we're by the alley I found you in?" She questions concerned

You took one more look around. You could've sworn you felt a molecular disturbance similar to that of Five's time wormholes but there was nothing. There was no blue light that you could see and no Hargreeves around. Grace had shown you the alley so maybe it was just trauma-induced anxiety. You nodded your head and Grace extended an arm to pat your back.

"Hopefully, it'll get easier with time. Just know I'll be here to help you, sweetie." Grace states

"Thanks, Mo- Grace. Thank you, Grace." You reply

You really needed to work on not calling her mom. The drive didn't take much longer as the meeting was happening at a local hotel. Odd choice but it was better than driving all the way to Houston. Grace and you walked silently side by side and made your way to the elevator and up the floors. When the elevator doors opened it revealed a tiki lounge themed room. Even odder choice but still better than going to Houston. As you entered you saw an assortment of men in suits. Most of them looked like the typical poindexters you assumed worked at NASA in the 1960s but there was one guy wearing a suit, hat, and sunglasses. You knew he had to be an asshole because only an asshole would continue to wear sunglasses inside. One of the men turned their attention to Grace.

"Grace! Lovely, you could make it today." He said before looking at you "Who is this young lady?"

Grace looks over to you and before you can say anything she responds,

"Why this is my adoptive daughter (Y/N). Did you forget me talking about her? I always brag about how much of a genius she is."

"I uh- it um- it must've slipped my mind. My apologies, it's nice to meet you miss (Y/N)."

"Thank you kindly, sir."

"It's a good thing this meeting isn't classified Grace or else your daughter wouldn't have been able to attend. Anyway, follow me." The scientist states guiding you to the table

As you all approach the others the scientist guiding you says,

"Gentleman I think we're just about ready and before anyone asks this young lady is Grace's adoptive daughter, (Y/N)."

"You have a child?" Another scientist asks confused

"Do y'all really ignore everything I say?" Grace complains

The other men chatter amongst themselves before giving weak smiles to you two. Out of the corner of your eye, you spot a chalkboard. Turning to the original scientist you ask,

"Sir, may I use that chalkboard over there?"

He looks over towards the board and nods his head. As you walk towards it you hear someone comment,

"Why don't you draw us a pretty picture, huh pumpkin?"

Turning to see who said it you notice the guy with the hat and sunglasses smirking. Definitely an asshole. You weren't going to ruin things for Grace though by openly being rude so as you walk by you state aloud,

"Es kòrakas."

Someone behind you laughs and you hear the voice of the man in the hat question,

"What are you laughing at Reginald?"

"Your hilarious lack of understanding of the ancient Greek language."

You recognized that pretentious voice. Slowly, you turned your head to see if who you thought was there, was there. When they came into view though, your suspicions were confirmed. It wasn't just any Reginald, it was _the_ Reginald Hargreeves. Your eyes go wide as things started to become a bit more clear. The woman sitting over at the table over there wasn't just a woman named Grace who happened to look like your Grace. No, this WAS your Grace but before she was an android. Oh god, this was odd. And Reginald, well he didn't know who you were at all. He just thought you were funny for telling the man in the hat to fuck off in ancient Greek. You should not be interacting with these people...this was going to fuck up the timeline. You were in too deep now though. You had no place to go, no one else to rely on, and didn't know what to do, so you just stared and kept your mouth shut. The man in the hat looks over to you and comments,

"Well go on sweetheart, I'm waiting for that picture to be drawn."

You felt your blood boil at his condescending comments. With an angry huff, you turned around and started to jot down something on the blackboard to show him up. You knew he definitely wasn't a scientist but you were going to make sure that those who actually had a brain in this room wouldn't dare to disrespect you. As you continued to fill the board up you heard one man say,

"Gentleman and Grace, let's get down to business. We need to figure out a way to test operating a rocket and soon."

"Yes, but it's too dangerous to send a human up at this point." Another man points out

"Exactly, but if we don't start figuring out the mechanics of how a human can operate a rocket we'll never beat the Soviets." Grace comments

"Well does anyone have ideas?" A different man asks

Finish what you were writing you look over your shoulder and see the group of people blankly staring at each other. No one was saying anything. Annoyed you decided to chime in,

"For a bunch of so-called intellectuals, you all are really quite daft. Except you Grace."

"And why is that, child?" Reginald questioned

"The solution to your problem is quite simple. Just use a primate." You reply nonchalantly

"Elaborate." He demands

"They have opposable thumbs like humans do and relatively the same brain structure. If you get a young enough chimp, give it a rudimentary mechanical system to pilot, and classically condition it to follow a series of patterns after a given stimulus then you have a perfect test trial without having to send a human up in space." You explain

"Why that's brilliant, it might just work!" One scientist exclaims excitedly

"What did I say? She is quite the genius." Grace comments

With the excited chatter of the group of scientists, you can tell the hat man was annoyed by his lack of understanding. With a smug look, you ask him,

"Oh sir, would you like to see my picture?"

Proudly you step to the side revealing what you had put on the board. The scientists look on in amazement as they look over what you had written.

"Is that the general thrust equation used to calculate rocket propulsion." Reginald inquires

"The what?" hat man questioned

"Yes, it is." You reply confidently

"Grace, I don't know where you found this girl but I think we can all agree that she is a godsend." the first scientist you met exclaims "If I'm correct I believe we're all in agreement and will move forward with miss (Y/N)'s chimp idea?"

You hear a bunch of yesses and see people nodding in agreement. With that out of the way most of the men get up from the table they were seated at and head over to the bar in the tiki lounge. As they do Grace approaches you and wraps her arm around you giving you a big hug. Placing her hands on your cheeks to hold your face in her hands she gives you a bright smile and compliments,

"I'm so proud of you, (Y/N)."

She pulls you back into a hug and you hold her tightly. You're trying your best to keep your composure as not to be mocked for your emotion by the group of men at the bar. A few stray tears escape from your eyes and. Grace whispers,

"It's okay, you can say it."

A smile appears on your face as you take a few short breaths and try to steady your voice. When you feel steady enough you whisper back,

"Thanks, Mom."

_____________________

Ever since you mentioned your idea of using a primate as a test trial for spaceflight, those in charge had been working their asses off to get it done. According to Grace, it took about a month to go through the legal channels to get it approved but once it was the acquisition process started immediately. NASA had gotten permission from the Republic of Congo to have a young primate shipped over to the United States for training. Due to customs, the primate would not get here until May but you had filled your time with getting more accustomed to the area in which you were now living. You went to the library to try and understand where human knowledge was at. You wanted to try your best to avoid speaking of things that hadn't happened or weren't discovered yet. You didn't want to do something that was normal to you but was a brand new invention or idea for anyone else. Also, you were concerned that you could accidentally end up as like a prophet in a cult. That would be no good.

You also had filled your time with working on your equation. Why did time travel have to be so convoluted? And why did there have to be so many unknowns? Trying to figure out what happened would take years, possibly decades. You really hoped that it wouldn't take that long. Maybe Five would show up before then.

The months flew by as you settled into life in Dallas and soon enough May arrived and you and Grace were on your way to Houston to meet this new primate. The drive was about four hours with stops but there was plenty to do, like listen to the radio. The music was...fine, but you really did miss the stuff you were used to listening to. You were very happy when you had finally arrived at NASA headquarters. You couldn't get out of the car fast enough. The two of you made your way inside and were escorted by one of the women who worked at the front desk towards where the primate was but as you turned down one hall the secretary turned to Grace and said,

"Today's unveil is not classified but only those who are officially working on the project can be in attendance so your daughter will have to wait here in this conference room."

"Aw, but I wanted to meet the primate." You state sadly

"You can meet him after the official unveiling. For now, just stay here. I'll be in that room right down the hall if there's an emergency, alright sweetie?" Grace replies

"Oh alright." you relent

You watch as the two of them walk through a set of double doors and out of sight. Reluctantly, you open the door to the conference room and enter. Seeing a bunch of blank blackboards you open your notebook and start to write out what you had of your time travel equation written down. Maybe if you could look at it all in one place then maybe you could figure out where to go next with it. With so many unknown variables you were having trouble progressing forward with it. After you finished writing it all out you plopped down into one of the chairs. Looking at it all nothing new came to mind. You slumped down in the chair as you let out a huff. You were still annoyed about how you couldn't go to the unveiling of the new NASA primate. If the meeting wasn't classified then you should be allowed in there. Hell, it was your idea! If there was only a way to get into that room unseen. You turn your head to look at the wall and stare at it.

"WAIT!" You yell jumping out of the chair

You were so stupid. You can get into the room unseen. You just had to use your powers. After you stopped manipulating Grace's voice to sound like 2019 Grace you really didn't use your powers at all. You just kind of...stopped. There was no time like the present to start using them again though and just as easy as it was to stop using them it was easy to start. With ease, you turned yourself invisible and walked through the wall of the conference room to the lab that Grace and others were in.

You stayed silent as you looked around the scene before you, unbeknownst to anyone else obviously. The room was filled with people in lab coats and over in the back of the room was Reginald and the man in the hat and sunglasses. Everyone chattered amongst themselves until the doors to the room opened and slowly a crate was rolled in. All eyes turned towards the crate as two of the people in lab coats used crowbars to pry open the lid. You watched as Grace stepped forward towards the now open crate and peered inside. Calmly, as she reached her hand inside the crate she said,

"It's okay little fella, no one's gonna hurt ya."

It was a bit difficult to see but a small furry hand reached out to her extended one. With that Grace lifted the small animal out of the crate and held it in her arms. The baby chimp looked around at all the faces. It looked nervous but this was an exciting event as Grace held the first key to the US moving forward in the space race. You would get to know the young chimp sooner but feeling satisfied with seeing the big reveal you turned yourself around and walked back through the walls to the conference room making yourself visible along the way. As you entered the conference room though you heard a scream ring out throughout the room.

"AHHHH!"

Before you, you say a young man who had fallen back on his butt staring up at you. Shocked you yelled back,

"AHHHH!"

"Who are you?!" He called out, eyes still wide with bewilderment

"Who are you?!?" You retorted still surprised

"I asked you first!" He states

"I asked you second!" You reply

Cautiously, the young man gets up off the ground and brushes off his pants. As he stands you get a better look at him. He was tall with green eyes and light brown hair. He shifts nervously from foot to foot before answering,

"I'm Charles Anderson but I go by Charlie."

You look back at him wary but reply,

"I'm (Y/N)."

"You're Grace's adoptive daughter." He states a bit more calmly

"Yeah."

"My dad has mentioned you a few times."

"Who's your dad?" You ask

"The guy who is always wearing hats and sunglasses indoors. Kind of a jerk." He replies

"Ah yes. The asshole." You remark

"Yeah, that's the one." Charlie says looking over to your equation "Did you do this?"

"Yeah, this is all my original work." You reply

"What is it?" He asks

"I don't think you'd find it interesting." You answer

"Humor me." He presses

"Alright." You relent before explaining, "It's a theoretical equation in which I'm trying to outline the probability of outcomes in terms of multiple people traveling through a time vortex at the same time. Specifically, outcomes of the viability of life and frequency of arrival."

"The probability of that even occurring is next to nothing." He flatly responds

"It's theoretical for a reason." You defend

You didn't want to hear that the probability was next to none. You needed to have Five and Diego and the rest of the Hargreeves come back and this was the only thing you had connecting you to them. Seeing your defensiveness Charlie clarifies,

"No, no. I'm not trying to disprove it. I just mean the way you're calculating it, your results will end with next to nothing. I think some minor changes could help improve the equation."

"Like what?"

"Well," he replies grabbing a piece of chalk, "instead of calculating the mass of the entire group, why not do it by the individual? Even if you have to calculate a few different masses per individual to get a good range I think that your viability of life would still most likely go up compared to group mass."

"Hmm. Interesting thought." You comment

You hadn't thought of that before, and looking at your equation having a range of mass for each individual was much better than that of calculating the whole group. It would probably give you a more accurate answer, given you could solve this goddamn thing. Maybe you could get through this faster if you had some help. Looking up at the young man you ask,

"Do you want to help me with this?"

"Sure, if you tell me what the hell that was." He states pointing to the wall you came through only a few minutes ago

Fuck.

There was no way out of this. Well...you could kill him but you were the only other person who was supposed to be in this room so that wouldn't go over well. And if you ran away that would be even more suspicious. Shit. You had to tell him.

"Fine. You want to know? I'm from the future and I have powers." You state bluntly

"Like Superman?" He asks

"No, more like The Flash. One power but very versatile." You reply before grabbing him by the front of his shirt and threatening "If you tell anyone I'll kill you."

"Listen, I don't have anyone to tell. I have no friends and get bullied at school. Also, I really like superheroes and you are one and also this is the most exciting thing that has ever happened in my eighteen years of life so I don't want to lose it. " Charlie rambles panicked

"Well, since we've come to an understanding, help me with my equation." You command

"But wait. What's your power? How far in the future is your original time?" Charlie questions

"Prove I can trust you with what I've told you so far and maybe I'll elaborate." You reply turning back to your work "Now. Let's get started."

And just like that, the boy had shut up and the two of you started to work on the equation, editing it to help make it more realistic and accurate. It had only been a few minutes when you heard the door behind you opens and a voice call out,

"(Y/N),"

Turning around you saw Grace standing there in the doorway.

"Oh, hi Mom."

"Would you like to come and meet the chimp who we'll be training?" She asked

"Yeah, that sounds great." You reply

"Well come along then sweetie." She calls

You turn to look at Charlie and say,

"I'll see you around. Remember what I told you."

He nods his head so rapidly you thought that it might just fly off his body. That sure would be an interesting sight to behold but it did not occur. You walk away from him and out the door to accompany your Mom down the hall to see the test trial chimp that NASA had acquired. When you entered the room acted as if you didn't know your way around. Seeing your "confusion" Grace guided you over to where the chimp was. You saw them sitting in what looked like a child's playpen in the corner. Slowly, you reached out your hand as not to scare them and slowly they reached back. When their hand was fully in yours you said,

"Hi, I'm (Y/N)."

"Obviously, he can't respond but his name is Pogo," Grace tells you

You look at the young chimp. Pogo. This, this was Pogo. The intelligent, well-spoken, old man chimpanzee that you knew. This was him.

"You're so small, and you don't talk." You said quietly, not realizing you had even spoken

"Well of course he doesn't talk, silly. He's a young primate, not a young human." Grace jokes with you

You let out a laugh, not a real one but you needed to play off your comment. Things just kept getting more crazy and convoluted the longer you were here in this time.

"Why don't we get some lunch?" Grace suggests

Looking back towards her you nod your head. Rising to your feet you walk towards the doors with Grace and as you walked out of the room you looked back at baby Pogo once more. What have you gotten yourself into...

________________________

After that first day, it was necessary that Grace stays in Houston so that there was no need for eight hours of commute every day. Wanting to keep the scientist who would be taking the lead on training Pogo in the area, an apartment was provided for her and you to live in. The days came and went as you became more accustomed to what was going on in the world around you. You and Grace would have breakfast and then head over to the NASA building so Grace could work on training Pogo.

You would spend your time in the conference room but Charlie was always there so you were never alone. Although at first, you made it so you would only talk about the equation you were working on, after a month or so you got bored with it and also felt that you could trust him enough so you decided to get to know him. He was a quirky fellow, but interesting nonetheless. He was an only child and really lonely. His mom passed away when he was ten and his dad was always working so they never had time to bond. Even when his Dad was home he really didn't care for Charlie. At school, he had no friends because instead of liking sports or cars he loved DC comic books and the superheroes they featured. He got bullied often by the other kids but even with all of this negative stuff he still managed to be relatively positive. You began to enjoy his company and started to open up about yourself elaborating a bit about your powers and your life before being in 1960. He was very much enthralled by it all but still treated you like a person which you appreciated.

On some days you would be able to go in and interact with Pogo and other days you would sneak in with your powers to see his training. It was impressive how well your idea was working and you were proud to see Pogo doing so well. You noticed how much he improved in just a few months but you also noticed something else. Over the months spent training Pogo, you could see Grace and Reginald growing closer. The shared looks, the elongated small talk, the way they both involved themselves with Pogo. It wasn't your preference to have them be together but you knew you had already made waves in the timeline just by existing there so all you could do was leave it alone. And if somehow Reginald made your mom happy then god damn you were going to let her be happy. It's not like he was a prick to you the same way he was in 2019. He knew you as Grace's daughter so he was very cordial with you. It was weird but it was better than what you had experienced so you let it go.

And so the months went by as you became more accustomed to the life you were living and the people surrounding you. But today, well today was special. Pogo was finally going to be sent into space. It was an accomplishment beyond comprehension that he had learned so much in only a few months and now he would be proving what he had learned. Running, you rush through the open grassy area near the rocket, trying to get the best view of the takeoff. As Charlie follows behind you, you call out,

"C'mon Charlie! We're gonna miss it!"

"Is watching the take-off from this distance even safe?" He questions concerned

"Who cares? Live a little." You state

"I care! I'd rather not turn into a pile of ash!" He retorts

"Don't be a chicken, the only way we'd get turned to ash is if we stood directly under the rocket." You say as you wave off his comment

"You say that like you're not crazy enough to do it." He remarks

"Touché." You reply before adding "We'll stop here then."

Charlie nods as he crouches down to set up the portable radio he brought so that you two could hear the rocket launch broadcast. You look in the distance and see the rocket ahead. You smile with a sense of pride as it was a monument to man's achievement and you in a minimal way had helped to get here. You hoped this day would be a blast, one that all would remember. Turning to Charlie you ask,

"What's the time? Takeoff should be soon."

Charlie finishes setting up the radio and then looks at the watch on his wrist.

"2:58 pm. About two minutes until launch."

You wait in silence for a bit before you hear the announcer on the radio say,

_Ladies and gentlemen, on this day of September 12th, 1960, it is a wonderful day for America as the MJ12 Rocket will be launching in just a minute. We will now be transferring over to Houston Control Center for the countdown._

There is a tiny bit of silence before a different voice is heard over the radio waves.

_All systems are primed and ready to go. We are cleared for takeoff in five, four, three, two, one._

And with that, you and Charlie watched as the rocket pushes itself off the ground and into the air. The smoke and flames flee from the propulsion system and leave a trail in the sky of where the rocket had been. Your heads continue to tilt further and further upwards as the sight of the rocket becomes smaller and smaller. Within seconds it is out of the atmosphere and you can see it no longer. Over the radio, you hear the control center state,

_Cabin pressure is holding at 5.5. Everything is A-okay in the cockpit. He's going to hand control now._

"Holy shit! We did it! We put him into space!" Charlie exclaims

"He's not done yet. He's got to pilot the rocket himself now." You state

The two of you continue to stare up at the sky even though there is nothing to be seen anymore. You had tuned out the broadcast until you hear the sound of a siren blaring over the airwaves. You and Charlie look at each other, concern and confusion cover your faces, before looking back up at the sky. 

"Oh no." You whisper

You hear the sound of Pogo scream before the radio broadcast goes silent. In the sky the two of you see a ball of red tumbling back towards earth. Terror strikes your heart, not only for your fear for Pogo but the feeling of the flaming rocket spiraling back to early was reminiscent of a time gone by. You never saw the chunks of the moon crashing to earth that night, but god you felt them. You started to shake as you watched the rocket continue to fall. The horrific thoughts of what will happen to Pogo and what your loved ones had to see and experience that night flood your psyche leaving you paralyzed with fear. Your mind races and you can feel your emotions spiraling out of control the same way the rocket was. Charlie looks over to you, Concerned about the state you're in he grabs your shoulder but immediately pulls his hand back in shock. Taking a closer look at you he saw that you were sparking, like your own mini lighting storm. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he couldn't touch you. Taking a few steps back to get out of your electrical field he called your name,

"(Y/N)! (Y/N)!"

Snapping out of your trance you looked at him with wide eyes. 

"(Y/N), you're sparking. I can't get close to you."

You looked at your arms and hands and saw the sparks coming off of you, sending you further into a panic. The electrical field around you grew as you lost control of your emotions more. And then, a familiar, sharp, shooting pain sends you to your knees. You were creating your own molecular disturbance. The more erratic you became the more painful the disturbance was but the more painful the disturbance was the more erratic you became. You were your own enemy right now and you didn't know how to fix it. 

Charlie watched as you, his only friend, struggled in some sort of vicious cycle. He knew that he couldn't get close to you but he had to help. You were the only friend he's got, and he wasn't going to throw away his shot to help you. Taking a few steps closer as to not step into the energy field you were creating but to be able to grab your attention he calls out your name once more,

"(Y/N)!"

Your eyes land on him and he sees the fear held within them.

"(Y/N), you need to stop fighting the energy, embrace it!"

"I ca-a-can't do i-it" You stutter out as pain rips through you

"Look at me (Y/N). Just breathe, you're stronger than this. I know you can do it." Charlie supports

You look at him and for a second the pain stops. Diego had said those exact words to you when Five had passed out in Harold Jenkins attic. You had to overcome this. You were going to overcome this, for Diego and Five. When you snapped back to reality the pain coursed through you again. You looked at Charlie for some type of guidance because you had no clue what to do. Once you started becoming hurt by strong molecular disturbances you never learned how to cope with them, you just suffered like you were doing at this moment. 

"What do I do?" You begged of Charlie

"If you fight it like you're doing right now it's only going to hurt you more. Embrace it. Breathe it in and then expel it out." He explains

You nodded your head. You tried to breathe the energy in and push it out like he said, but it continued to hurt. You doubled over in pain crying out,

"I can't do it!"

"You can. Try again." He commands

Forcing yourself back up you close your eyes and feel the field of energy around you. Slowly you breathe in pulling some of the rogue molecules into your body before slowly expelling them through your extremities. As you continued to do so you could feel the pain decreasing and yourself calming down. You were doing it. You were stopping the disturbance. You kept going for a bit longer becoming more confident, and with each breath you took, the disturbance decreased more and more until it was gone. You opened your eyes and got yourself up off the ground. Cautiously, Charlie approached you exclaiming,

"You did it!"

"Yeah, I did..." you replied breathlessly

You couldn't believe it. You stopped a disturbance from hurting you. You stopped fighting it. You were about to say something else when you heard the sound of sirens rush down a road nearby. Turning you saw a police car and an ambulance labeled recovery team.

"We need to get going," Charle said to you

You nodded and the two of you took off back to the NASA building. When you made it inside you ran down the hall towards the room where Pogo was kept and trained in but were stopped by two guards blocking the doors.

"Sorry kids, no entry." One of them said

"Shit." Charlie remarked

You turned to look at him surprised and as you did you saw a figure approaching in your peripheral. Whipping around you see Reginald quickly approaching the doors with something in his hand.

"Sir Hargreeves." You stated

He stopped before you and you saw a syringe with blue liquid in his hand.

"Is Pogo going to be okay?" You question concerned

"I hope so." He replies monotonely as he lifts the syringe to gesture it

Without another word he turns his attention to the guards and they let him through. For a quick second you can see the injured baby Pogo on a miniature medical table and a concerned Grace through the crack in the door. When the door closed you let out a breath that you didn't even know you were holding it. You were speechless and paralyzed. How could this happen? 

"Hey, let's go to the conference room. Our parents will get us when things are resolved." Charlie suggests

You slowly nod your head and the two of you walk down the hall and enter the room. Quietly, you take seats at the table across from each other but no words are said. You sit in the silence as you wait for news of any kind. You didn't know how long it had been but soon enough you see Grace enter the room. You stand up and look at her unable to read the expression on her face.

"Mom." you say aloud

"C'mon (Y/N), we're going home for the day." She replies with no inflection in her voice

You nod your head at her and start walking towards the door. When you get next to her you look towards Charlie who was still sitting down and give him a small wave goodbye. He silently nods his head at you before you and Grace leave. Silently, you and Grace make your way to her car and drive away from the building. As you do Grace takes a different road than the one to the apartment you were living in.

"Uh, Mom. You missed the turn." You state

"No. We're going to the courthouse first." Grace replies keeping her eyes on the road

The courthouse? You were confused but stayed quiet as she continued to drive. When you arrived in the courthouse parking lot Grace shut off the car but continued to look forward. 

"You know what I realized today (Y/N)?" she says

"What Mom?" you reply

"Life is precious and it is not guaranteed. Pogo pulled through but there was a very big chance that he could've died. Today I learned that if you really love something or someone you should keep them close." She explains

You were relieved to hear that Pogo was okay but you were still confused as to why you were there.

"Okay but why are we at the courthouse?" you ask looking towards her

Grace looks back at you and you can see the emotion in her eyes. Gently, she reaches her hand out and starts to stroke your hair.

"Over these few months you've become so important to me and I love you with all my heart. We're here because I want to adopt you (Y/N) because being your mother is the greatest gift of my life." She replies softly as tears form in her eyes 

You smile at her with tears starting to form in your eyes. Grace places a hand on your cheek as she asks choked up,

"Can I adopt you sweetie?"

"Yes!" You happily reply wiping some of your own happy tears away

You lean into her and wrap your arms around your mother giving her a tight hug. She wraps her arms back around you and holds you just as tight resting her head upon yours.

"I love you so much sweetie,"

"I love you too Mom." 

When you two had finished your embrace you exited the car and started walking towards the courthouse together. As you did Grace said,

"Oh, one more thing darling. Once Pogo heals a bit more Reggie offered for us to go up north to his house there. I said that it sounds lovely but ultimately I want to do what you're most comfortable with since you matter most. What do you think?"

You could hear the joy in her voice as she explained the offer. Although you didn't get it, like before, you weren't going to stop her happiness and if being with Reginald was what was going to make her happy then you might as well go along. He was still iffy in your mind but he was better than 2019 Reggie, so why not? Looking at your mom you nod your head yes and excitedly she replies,

"I'll give him a call to let him know when we get home. But what matters most right now is making you officially mine."

Grace places an arm around your shoulders and you two walk together up the stairs to the courthouse. Your time in the '60s started a bit poorly but things seemed to be getting better day by day.


	30. Happy Birthday, (Y/N)

**October 1st, 1960:**

After you and Grace had filed the paperwork to have you legally adopted by her you thought it would take a while given the fact that the clerk told you it would take up to three months for everything to be finalized. Surprisingly though, after Grace had complained to Reginald about it the courthouse magically called and said the adoption hearing date was moved up. Only a few people were in attendance besides you and Grace. Reginald showed up for Grace as Charlie did for you. You were swiftly approved and the adoption was finalized, but that was a week ago. After that, you were packing boxes so that you could head up north with your mom to stay with Reginald. You had pretty much packed up everything you had owned which wasn't much. But now you were moving in.

You stood outside the gates looking up at the building that you had been in so many times before. It loomed over you just as it had that first time and you were unsure of if you'd even be able to step inside but with a hand on your shoulder Grace brought you in alongside her as Reginald showed you some of the more prominent rooms. The foyer was unchanged as was most of the house. But then there were some areas that unsettled you. The back area where Ben's statue would be was empty. Not even the bench that you and Five first met at was even there. And the parlor where Five's portrait typically hung felt barren. You had grown use to the sight of your beloved Five hanging over the mantle but to see the spot empty was eerie. You knew you were in the past but it felt like an even emptier future. But the parlor wasn't even the worst part, it was the upstairs hallway. Quiet and uninhabited, you felt more lonely than you had in a while just looking at it. You stared down the empty hall drawing a blank on what to even do.

"Sweetie, did you hear that?" Grace asks

"Huh, sorry...I zoned out thinking about the building." You reply

"Understandable. I informed your mother that you have this whole floor to yourself. Pick whatever room you want and I'll have a maid make a bed for you." Reginald explains

"Oh okay." You reply before walking down the hall

You didn't even look at any of the other rooms because there was only one that you wanted. You stopped in front of the door of your chosen room and turned to the two of them back at the end of the hall. Pointing to this door you said,

"This one."

"Are you sure sweetie? You didn't even look at the rooms." Grace questions confused

"I'm positive. I know this is the one." You reassured

The two of them are quiet for a second giving you odd looks but then Reginald states,

"Well then, your mother and I will let you settle in. Your stuff is located in that room down the hall."

You nod your head and the two of them walk off leaving you alone. You then turn to see which room Reginald was gesturing to. When you see it all you can say is,

"Ah fuck."

Why did it have to be Five's room. You swore if there was a god out there that they were very sadistic to you. Letting out an annoyed sigh you walked down the hall and opened the door. You looked inside but it looked nothing like Five's room. It was just an empty room with boxes. You started opening some boxes to try and see what was inside. You and Grace really should've labeled the boxes as more than just (Y/N)'s stuff and Grace's stuff. Oh well, you couldn't really fix it now. You shifted through some of the boxes finding clothes and shoes and other small things such as some of your notebooks. As you shifted through one of the boxes though you noticed what looked like the strap to a bag. Grabbing onto it you pulled the item out and looked at what was in your hands. It was your backpack. You had forgotten all about it. You sat down on the floor and carefully undid the zipper. Reaching in the bag you pulled out the items and each one hurt you more and more. Your journal and Ben's journals, Five's mask, the teddy bear he gave you, but what hurt most were the last three items.

You pulled out the photo of you and your friends had given you back at the bowling alley. It was all of you at your prom taken only a few weeks before the apocalypse happened. You all smiled standing together as a group in your coordinated colors. Had it really been so long since you saw them? You thought about how many days was it since you were last together, and then you remembered what day it was. It was October 1st. Your birthday.

You pulled out a second photo and your heart broke even more given what you had just remembered. Tears started to well in your eyes as you stared at the photo taken on October 1st all those years ago. You and the rest of the Umbrella Academy stood together with smiles on your faces. You had all turned thirteen and it was the last birthday you truly celebrated. You could feel as you started to get choked up.

You pulled the last item out of the bag already knowing what it was. You closed your eyes not wanting to look at it as you opened it up. You started to cry as the soft music from the music box played throughout the room. You placed the music box down on the ground before covering your your tear stained face with your hands. You sobbed as you came to realize how alone you were. This house was empty and so was your heart. You were alone and no matter how much you wanted to disregard that fact you had no choice. Everyone was gone. From behind you, you heard a quiet voice behind you ask,

"Are you okay?"

Turning to look at who spoke you saw a familiar face there.

"Charlie?" You questioned between sobs "What are you doing here?"

"My dad has work with Reginald so I thought I'd comes see you as well." Charlie explains are he crouches down next to you "What's wrong?"

Your throat became tighter as you tried to think of the words to say but you couldn't. There was nothing you could say to explain the pain you felt. You looked down at the photos again and your heart burst with grief. You started to cry heavily as waterfalls fell from your eyes. You threw your head back into your hands as you tried to hide your face. Charlie looked at you, his only friend sobbing and did the only thing he could think to do. Hug you. He wrapped his arms around you tightly as you cried into his shoulder. He didn't mind if you got your tears or snot on it, he just wanted you to feel better. You wrapped your arms back around him and held on tight. You didn't know what else you could do other than that. You tried to calm yourself down and in between your choked breaths you explained,

"Today was the birthday of me and my friends...but I'm all that's left. The last time we- we all celebrated our birthday together we were...here in this house. And then my friends from school...they gone too. All of them...dead. I- I'm alone."

"You're not alone (Y/N)." Charlie comforted

You pulled back from the hug and looked at him. Wiping your eyes you asked,

"What do you mean?"

"You loved these people and you continue to love them to the point of tears. If you can keep them in your heart that strongly then you'll never be alone on any day, including your birthday."

You were taken back by his words. You breathing calmed down as you looked at him in shock at his words.

"Really?" You questioned quietly

"Of course. And even if you didn't have them, I'll be here for you."

Charlie proceeds to pull a handkerchief out of his pocket and hand it to you. You cleared away the last of your tears before blowing your nose into it. You handed it back to him with a small laugh as you said,

"Sorry."

"You can keep it." Charlie said with a smile "Now today is your birthday?"

You nodded your head back.

"Instead of dwelling on the past...or I guess the future, who about we go get milkshakes. Maybe you can tell me more about these friends of yours."

"I'd like that." you replied

Charlie helped to gather your valuables back into your backpack and proceeded to put them back in the box you got it from. When he had closed all the boxes back up he extended a hand to help you stand. Taking his hand you were helped off the floor. The two of you made your way out of the room and down to the front door of the house telling your Mom and Reginald you'd be heading out in the process. Celebrating your birthday this year was already difficult but maybe it wouldn't be as bad with a friend by your side.

**October 1st, 1961:**

Once again it was October 1st and you were another year older. You were surprised that you had finally made it to twenty. With all your near death encounters and time jumps sometimes you thought you'd never would stop being a teenager. And yet here you were at twenty years old celebrating your birthday at Reginald's Dallas manor. Granted, it was only semi a party for you. The reality of it was that this was a business gathering that just so happened to also take the time to acknowledge your age increasing. It was better than nothing though. As you walked around your half party you heard a voice call out from behind you.

"Hey (Y/N)."

You turn around seeing your friend standing there.

"Charlie!"

"Happy birthday!" He exclaims

"Thanks Charlie, you seem like the only person here other than my mom who cares that I was born." You joke to him

"Well then we're the only people here that matter." He remarks

The two of you laugh a bit but then a different voice calls out your name. You and Charlie turn to see that it was his had who had called. He was standing in a group with Reginald and some other coworkers of theirs. The two of you share a look before heading over towards him.

"What do you want dad?" Charlie asked annoyed

Charlie's dad was not the best person to be around. He was cocky, arrogant, had little disregard for other people and their feelings. Honestly it was surprising how Charlie was his son given he was the complete opposite of the man. Charlie's father looked at him, or as best as you can look at someone when you're always wearing a hat and sunglasses indoors.

"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to her." He replies before turning to you "You know your mom always talks about amazing you are at everything and yet I haven't seen much from you."

"Dad leave her alone." Charlie demands

"Charlie it's fine. I can handle myself." You tell him before turning to his father "Now what are you trying to insinuate with that comment sir?"

"I'm not trying to insinuate anything. Just if you're so talented why don't you actually show us what you can do?" He replies his colleagues snickering behind him

Oh you were going to make this man eat his words and wipe all the snickers of the faces of these 1960's sexist bastard.

"Alright, what do you want me to do. You name it, I can do it."

"Pfft. I bet you can't beat Reg over here in fencing. He's an Olympic Gold Medalist." Charlie's dad remark

"I bet I can. And I'll do it blind-folded." You retort

"(Y/N), that's not really necessary. I'm sure my colleague is just joking." Reginald states

"What are you afraid you're going to lose Reggie?" You mock

You watch as Reginald straightens his posture, hands a colleague his champagne glass and then walk away. You were going to kick this old man's ass. It took about 30 minutes but within that time they were able to get two sets of fencing gear and someone who knew how to referee the sport. When both of you were accurately suited up you went to you designated spot on the fencing strip, gave the solute to your opponent and placed your blindfold and mask on. You weren't just going to beat Reggie though, you were going to rip the hearts out of his colleagues. You took a breath as you listened to the ref say,

"En grade, ready...fence!"

With the word fence you started to advance forward. Even though you were blindfolded you could sense the molecules of everything and knew where things were like Reggie and his blade. But you had a plan so for this point you let yourself get hit by Reggie. You could hear his colleagues laugh at you and you could feel their condescending gaze. This is where the fun began though and you were going to ruin their egos. You and Reginald reset yourselves at the opposite sides of the fencing strips. You listened to the referee once more.

"En grade, ready...fence!"

And with this round and all rounds after you demolished Reggie. You were quick on your feet and even though you were blindfolded you fenced as if you had your full vision parrying and beating his blade away scoring point after point. With each touch added in your favor the room grew quieter, you could hear the heartbeats of his colleagues racing. And then it happened. You landed the final touch to get you to fifteen points. You had won. Taking off your mask and blindfold you looked out at the crowd of shocked socialites. When you spotted Charlie's dad and his cronies you looked towards them, shot them a smile and asked in the most customer service voice you could muster,

"Any other requests?"

They went from shocked to angry and over the course of the next hour you continuously proved them wrong and watched the light drain from their eyes more and more. One man asked you to throw knives behind your back at targets. You landed it every single time. Another man asked you to solve equations only that of a highly trained scientist could solve. You got the answer if less than five minutes. A different guy asked you to come up with a song they have never heard on the piano so you sang Bruno Mars' _Talking To The Moon_ and moved many in the crowd to tears with the emotion you put into it. One by one you fulfilled more requests until the men had exhausted their options and relented. Without saying a word to you they walked away deflated and you beaming with pride walked out of the party out towards the garden. As you did so you heard the voice of your friend calling,

"(Y/N) wait!"

You stopped in your tracks and turned to him, a smile of pride still spread widely across your face.

"That was amazing. Did you see how depressed they look! I haven't seen my dad that depressed since my mom died." Charlie exclaims

"Charlie, that's awful." You reply horrified and yet slightly entertained

"It's fine, he didn't deserve her. But that was amazing!" He replied

"Thank you" you reply as you start walking in the garden again. The moon was far above you and shined brightly in the night sky. You hoped that your family was alive and wherever they were they saw the moon too and were thinking of you. You hoped that Five was thinking of you. You saw that Charlie had also looked up too.

"You tend to look at the moon a lot." He commented

"When you live a life like mine you start to appreciate the little things, like the moon being in the sky."

"Well, it's not like the moon is going to disappear." Charlie replies jokingly before turning to concern "Wait...does it?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that question."

"Aw, c'mon you barely tell me anything about the future! Just some of the people in it!" Charlie begs

You looked at him. Oh, the stories you could tell about just the things you had learned in your history books, but that knowledge was something he would have to wait for.

"Charlie, if I told you _all_ about the future you wouldn't live life, you'd just wait for it to happen."

Charlie let out a sigh knowing you wouldn't budge on the issue. Instead of trying to press more he changed his tune and asked,

"Well, what do you want to do now? It's still your birthday after all."

You looked up at the sky once more and admired the moon as you felt a cool fall breeze brush past your face. A smile spread across your face once more as an idea came to mind.

"Let's go for a drive."

"A drive? It's a bit late for that don't you think?" Charlie questions

"No, I think this is the best time for a drive." You remark "And like you said it's still my birthday after all."

Charlie looks at you hesitantly but you put on your fake sad face and he starts to come around. Rolling his eyes he lets out a huff as he states,

"Fine. But just because it's your birthday."

"You'll have a wonderful time. I swear." You tell him

The two of you make your way to his car. Charlie taking the driver's seat and you sitting passenger side. As you pull away from the manor you pass by a series of other houses. Many of them you knew who lived there because they were in attendance at the party tonight but there was one abandoned house that you were always curious about. As you passed by you asked Charlie,

"Do you know who lives there?"

"Ah yeah it used to house some doomsday cult but last I heard they all left and went to India." He explains

"Ah. Interesting," you reply

The two of you continue to drive the nighttime streets. There was barely anyone out and about so it made everything so surreal and peaceful. As you went down the main street of Dallas you passed the diner that you and Charlie frequented to get burgers and fries a lot. As you looked inside you saw many people sitting and eating their meals, it was crazy how close it was to the alley you were found in. Nevertheless, the two of you carried on but as you passed the alley you felt an odd chill down your spine. You looked back because you swore it felt like a disturbance but maybe you were just going insane. Why would there be a molecular disturbance at night in 1961. You were just anxious about passing it again, that's what it was. Pushing that thought out of your mind you and Charlie made your way onto the highway. You weren't going to go far but the emptiness of the road as the moon was above was something you adored. You wanted to feel the wind through your hair and just scream into the freedom of the night. You put down the convertible roof before unbuckling your seat belt and standing up holding onto the front windshield for support. You looked over to your friend driving and stated,

"Charlie. Stand up." 

He gave you a quick glance over before saying,

"Are you crazy?" 

"Charlie, just trust me."

He reluctantly nodded his head and using your powers you kept the car going straight. You watched as Charlie unbuckled his seatbelt and mimicked your actions by standing up and holding on to the windshield. When he looked like he was settled you told him,

"Get ready!"

"FOR WHAT?!" He yelled with wide eyes

You didn't reply though instead you used your powers and hit the gas sending you two flying down the highway. You screamed with joy as you drove down the empty road. You could tell that at first Charlie was scared but soon enough you saw a smile on his face. The two of you rode down the road in the moonlight having a grand old time and for just this moment all of your worries and fears faded. Just for this moment, you felt free.

**October 1st, 1962:**

There's a slight knock at the door waking you from your sleep. You rub the sleep out of your eyes as you hear the door open and shut. Your eyes start to flutter open as you hear,

"Good morning, Miss (Y/N)."

"Good morning Marie. Also, you don't need to address me as Miss. (Y/N) will do just fine." You reply as you sit up from bed to look at her

Marie was the new maid, Reginald had hired her only a few weeks back to tend to you. You insisted you didn't need a maid as you were old enough to take care of yourself but he's not one to listen to such matters and he insisted on it. This was not the hill you were going to die on so you relented. Marie was kind albeit a bit timid. You didn't mind her presence but it was getting tiring having to correct her, it made you feel like a jerk having to explain to her over and over again on how to address you.

"My apologies. Your parents sent me to wake you for breakfast."

Oh jeez...the parents thing again. Ever since she was hired she referred to both Grace and Reginald as your parents no matter how many times you corrected her. You were fine with her calling Grace your parent or Mom but ugh...Reginald was **_not_** your dad. Not in the legal sense, and definitely not in the emotional sense. Sure he liked you much better than the 2019 version and treated you as such but it was probably because he cared for Grace and Grace cared for you, therefore by transitive property he had to care for you. From your perspective, you were not so much a "child" to him but more so "a gifted individual and potential legal heir". You let out a sigh knowing you had to correct her once more,

"Marie. Grace, my mom, is my only parent. Sir Hargreeves just happens to be in a committed relationship with her."

"Oh, right. Well, they would like to have breakfast with you and discuss the party today." Marie replies

"Let them know I'll be down soon." You reply with a wave of your hand

Marie gives you a curt nod before exiting your room. You plopped back down onto your bed and stared up at the ceiling. You looked around the room and at your calendar on the wall. Today really was your 21st birthday. Insane. You assumed you'd be in the academy building celebrating it with your mom as you did for many prior birthdays but you didn't expect to be in the 1960s doing it. Oh well, at least you weren't alone. You forced yourself out of bed and headed downstairs for breakfast. Entering the dining room there was a wide array of food out the table. Reginald sat at the head and Grace sat to his left. Walking over to the table you pulled out the chair across from your mom and sat down.

"Good morning," you greeted the both of them

"Good morning sweetie! Happy Birthday!" Grace replies excitedly

"Ah yes. Congratulations on making it to twenty-one years of age," Reginald adds

"Thank you." You replied as you placed pancakes and fruit onto your plate

"Are you excited about your party today?" Grace questions

It was Grace's idea to hold a grand event for your 21st birthday and if Grace wanted to do it then Reggie was all on board. They had pulled out all the stops this year. Caterers, musicians, a fully stocked bar, the works. You weren't complaining, a grand party for your 21st sounded exactly how you wanted it to go. Reginald looks up from his paper and over at you.

"I had Marie send out invitations to many of your friends." He states

"That's new," You scoffed as you cut your pancakes "I don't remember Charlie being multiple people."

Charlie was your only friend so it made no sense for him to even insinuate you had more. Most of the people who were coming were going to be high society friends of Reggie and Grace.

"Well you have a point sweetie, they're more so our friends and colleagues but still they all adore you greatly." Grace says "But some of them are bringing their children who are your age so perhaps you can get to know more people."

"Perhaps. I just hope the sons of Reggie's friends don't try to flirt with me again. I want a man of substance, not one looking for me to provide sustenance." You complain jabbing your fork into your fruit

"I have already informed my colleagues that their sons are forbidden from attempting to court you and doing so will result in a permanent ban from all future gatherings." Reginald explains "Anyway, none of them come close to being equal in standing. I don't find them suitable for you."

"Well if those brainless barbarians will be there, will I at least be able to have a drink or two at the party so I can tolerate them?"

"Of course not. What a ridiculous suggestion." Reginald remarks

"Ridiculous? I am 21 years of age now. How is it ridiculous?" You questioned

"What do I always tell you. Your mind is like a gold statue, alcohol will only dull the brilliance." Reginald retorts

You never got to drink at least not around Reginald. He was allowed to have as much as he wanted but no if you even so much as had a _thought_ of having a _drop_ of alcohol he would reprimand you for it. If anyone was ridiculous it was him with his whole "dull the brilliance" thing. You turned to Grace to see if she would say otherwise.

"What say you, Mom?" You asked

"I'm going to have to agree with Reggie, darling." Grace answers "And anyway I want you to remember the party and the surprise that Reggie has for you!"

"You got a surprise? For me?" You stated in disbelief

"Well, it's not quite a surprise if your mother tells you about it." Reginald remarks

"Oh don't be such a grump, she doesn't know what it is Reggie." Grace retorts kindly

"And I intend to keep it that way until the party." Reginald comments

"My lips are sealed so don't you try to get any more information out of me." Grace teases as she zips her lips shut

You rolled your eyes and let out a small laugh. You loved your mom dearly but you really wanted to ask her about what kind of surprise Reginald had gotten for you. What was so important that it had to be a secret? You guessed you'd have to wait to find out and gave a little shake of your head as you continued to eat your breakfast. As you did so you could hear a knock come from the front door and footsteps heading towards your location.

"Master Hargreeves, there's a visitor for you. Shall I bring him in?" A butler asks

"Yes. Send him in."

A new set of footsteps enter the room and from behind you, you hear,

"Good morning everyone."

You recognized that voice. Turning around you see Charlie standing there.

"Good morning Charlie, why don't you come join us?" Grace asks

Charlie nods his head and as he approaches he takes a seat at the table next to you.

"Charlie, did you know that you're multiple people? Apparently, I have multiple friends." You comment sarcastically before taking a sip of orange juice

"That's breaking news, last I heard other than me all your friends were dead." Charlie jokes

"CHARLES." Reginald reprimanded

You spit your orange juice back into your cup and start laughing. It was so awful of him to say that especially on your birthday but your humor was so messed up that you couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry sir and sorry (Y/N)." Charlie apologizes sheepishly

"No don't apologize your timing and execution were fantastic." You say trying to catch your breath

Charlie shoots you a smile before turning to Reginald who had a strong look of displeasure on his face.

"You wanted to discuss with me about um," Charlie said taking a glance at you "Certain arrangements sir?"

"Yes, why don't we speak in my office."

Reginald stood up from the table and Charlie followed suit. You gave Charlie a confused look and as he passed by he shot back with a very nervous one. Poor Charlie. You had no clue what was going on but you could tell he was scared. You'd ask him later what that all was about but for now, you were going to enjoy your breakfast. You sat quietly as you listened to the background music coming from the record player as you and your mom rambling on about how much you'd grown and how you were becoming a wonderful young lady. She had only had you for three years but she gushed about you as if she had you for all 21. You sat there smiling as you listened to her but not before long Charlie and Reginald had returned. You tried to read the looks on their faces but couldn't come to any conclusion. You guess you'll never really know what got discussed because you weren't in the room where it happened. Charlie took his seat back next to you and Reginald at the head of the table.

"Charlie, would you be a dear and take (Y/N) out for a bit while Reggie and I finish the preparations for her party?" Grace asks "Also you could you stop by the tailor's and pick up her party dress?"

"Sure thing!" Charlie replies before turning to you "Let's go."

"I'm still in pajamas," you reply gesturing to yourself

"I missed the part where that's my problem," Charlie replies with a smirk

Did he really just quote the original Spiderman movie? Did he just respond with a meme to you? You had taught him too much. This is what you get for trying to explain the references you were making to him. Now he understood and now he could use it against you. You let out a sigh as you stood up from your seat. A smirk on your face as you shook your head at the monster you had created. You gave him a playful push as you said,

"I'll be ready in 15 minutes you dork."

You went upstairs to your room and fixed yourself up to go outside. Throwing on a nice casual dress and a pair of flats you grabbed your locket and placed it around your neck. You took a look at yourself in the mirror and held the locket in your hand. Opening it up, you looked down and saw the picture of him inside. The smile on his face warmed your heart but it always pained you as well. You blink fast to prevent yourself from tearing up as you close the locket and place a gentle kiss on it.

"Happy birthday Five," you whisper

You look in the mirror one more time and take a deep breath. Today was going to be a good day. You were going to make it good because you know Five wouldn't want you to be miserable. Letting out your breath you turn towards the door of your room and exit it. You walk towards the foyer steps but as you do you see Charlie exit what would become Five's room in the future. Curious you ask,

"What were you doing in there?"

"It's a surprise." He replies

"Another surprise? Can't I just see it now?" You question

"Not a chance," Charlie says as he grabs your wrist and pulls you excitedly behind him

The two of you make your way to his car and start to drive around the city.

"So what was that all about with Reginald?" You inquire as Charlie drives

"I am contractually obligated not to answer that question," Charlie replies blankly

You laugh at his response. You really did teach him well on how to respond to things, but then you notice he's not laughing with you.

"Wait, are you serious? You're under contract?" You ask shocked

"He made me sign an NDA. I can't talk about it until after the party." Charlie explains

"Holy shit, what does he have you involved in that you need an NDA for it?"

Charlie looks over at you and gives you a look that says " _really?"_.

"Like, I get it but I've dealt with so many surprises in my life already and not a lot of them were great. I would prefer to know things."

"I'd love to, but I legally can't." Charlie retorts

"Fine," you reply

You want to know what was in store for you today badly but there's nothing you could do if no one was going to tell you. The morning and afternoon went by relatively quickly as you and Charlie just drove around the city, popping into different shops every now and then for the fun of it. On your way back to the house you picked up your party dress from the tailors and finished the journey back home. Upon your arrival, you could hear the noise of the pre-party. Many of the more important guests were probably mingling during the cocktail hour as they waited for you to join them. Not wanting to be seen by the guests already there you opted to take a side entrance into the house. As you made your way from Charlie's car towards the house entrance a large, homeless man in need of a shower passed you by. You didn't quite get a good look at him as you were holding your dress bag up in front of you but you did hear him mumbling something about his dad not believing him. Poor thing.

You made your way around the side of the house and took the entrance through the kitchen up into the house. As you walked past many of the cooks and waiters you heard a plethora of happy birthday wishes. Avoiding the main staircase you managed to upstairs unnoticed and entered your room. Quickly, you changed from your casual dress into the dress Grace custom ordered for you. It was an elegant black halter dress that came above the knee. Like many other dresses at the time the skirt poofed out but it looked quite lovely on you. You did your hair up and put some makeup on so your attire would fit the formality of the party they were throwing. When you exited your room you saw Charlie down the hall one more standing in front of Five's to-be room. Approaching him you questioned once again,

"Can I see what you're hiding now?"

With a smile on his face, he replied,

"Yes, but you have to close your eyes first."

You did as you were told and heard the door to the room open. Charlie covered your eyes with his hands and directed you so you slowly moved forward into the room. Once the two of you had stopped he counted down,

"Three...two...one!"

Removing his hands you opened your eyes and looked at the surprise before you. You let out a gasp as you placed your hand over your mouth. Charlie looked at you with concern.

"Is it bad?" He questioned nervously

"No Charlie, it's beautiful."

Before you on the wall hung a painting. A beautiful painting of everyone you ever cared for. You stood in the center of it a giant smile on your face. To the left of you were all your friends. They looked alive in the portrait as if the apocalypse had never taken them away. Lucas held Addison in his arms and Viktoria held her viola. Kenny wrapped his arms around Bren and Bren tried to hide his smile and Dean stood to your left side bow in hand. The smiles on their faces as bright as the last time you saw them in person. But behind Dean stood two people you hadn't see in a long while.

"Mom...Dad..." you whispered as you looked at the painting closer

They looked exactly the same as the day you went missing. Your dad wrapped his arm around your mom's shoulder as your mom placed her hand on yours. Tears started to come to your eyes as you looked at your parents for the first time in years.

Look looked on at the portrait more and while your friends and parents were to the left all the Hargreeves siblings were to the right. All seven of them, including Ben. You were only ever able to hear Ben but you were certain that how he looked in the portrait was how he would've appeared if he was alive. Behind you stood Diego and Grace. Looks of pride on their face as they beamed in the portrait.

And then there was Five. He stood directly to your right side. His hand interwoven with yours as he smiled next to you. His smile as if nothing bad had ever happened. No time jumps, no apocalypse, just pure happiness. And his eyes were a beautiful shade of bright blue. Exactly how they looked in person when he looked at you.

Tears fell from your face as you continued to look at the painting. It was everything. Besides the stuff you brought with you from the future, this was the most valuable thing you had in this timeline. This painting let you have everyone you loved in one place.

"Do you like it?" Charlie asked hesitantly

"I love it." You said breathlessly as you wiped tears from your eyes

"Oh good! I worked really hard on it."

"Wait. You painted this?" you questioned

"Uh, yeah, I did" Charlie replied "I spent the last two years working on it actually. You were so sad that you didn't have anyone on your birthday in 1960 that I took it upon myself to make sure you had all of them for future ones."

"How did you make them so realistic though?"

"Well, some people were easier than others. Like your friends, because you showed me pictures of them. For the others, I took copious notes of how you described them when you told me stories from your life so I could get them just right."

You looked back towards the painting admiring it once more but then noticed that something was missing.

"Charlie it's perfect, but where are you in it?" You ask

"Where am I?" He replies confused

"Yeah. You matter to me just as much as everyone in that picture."

"I didn't think to add me...but if you want I can add me later after the party"

"I'd like that. You deserve to be there with everyone else."

Charlie smiled and you hugged him. It was difficult not having all the people in the picture with you but you were happy that you had Charlie to look out for you so you weren't so alone. When you broke the hug Charlie asked,

"Ready to head to your party birthday girl?"

"Yes, I am." You smiled

Charlie took your arm and proceeded to escort the two of you out of the room and down the main foyer stairs to where the party was. As you walked down the stairs the eyes of the guests turned to you. A smile on your face as you heard a chorus of cheers and happy birthdays shouted your way. You smiled as you walked on by to enter the parlor. Once you were in the parlor your mom came over with a beautiful tiara and placed it upon your head.

"For my little princess." She said as she pulled you into a tight hug

You held her back but as you did so you noticed a curtain hanging over the mantle of the fireplace.

"Mom." You said stepping out of the hug and pointing to the curtain "What's that?"

Your mom looks towards where you were pointing and when she sees what you're referring to she smiles.

"Well, that's the big surprise." She replies excitedly "Reggie would you like to show her?"

"Certainly." He says simply

He makes a gesture over to the two butlers standing by the fireplace. At the same time, the two of them pull on ropes revealing what had been hidden underneath. There's a plethora of oohs and ahhs as you and all the guests marvel at what stood before you. It was a portrait of you, above the fireplace. Your jaw dropped in shock and there was a round of applause. There was an irony to it that no one else would understand, but it still was quite a nice painting. Much less depressing than the ones in the future Umbrella Academy and much more lively than the one of Five. It was you sitting at your piano dressed up with a smile on your face. It was so realistic though that it looked like it could've been a candid photo. As you continued to look on in shock all you could get out was,

"Holy shit."

"Aww. Reggie, I think she likes it!" Grace exclaims before turning to you and saying "Reggie had commissioned Charlie to paint it."

You looked over at Charlie and he nodded his head. As you turned back to look at it once more Charlie leaned over to you and whispered,

"He said he'd cut my hands off if I told you."

"Oh...it was that kind of contract. Good thing you didn't." You whispered back

You watch as Charlie looks around before exclaiming loudly,

"How about a toast?"

A nearby server hands him a glass of champagne. Charlie turns to look at you and states,

"Happy birthday (Y/N). How you fell into the lives of the many people here, we do not know, but we have you now and we celebrate your accomplishments, who you are, and the bright future you have ahead of you. Cheers!"

"Cheers!" The crowd responds as they all raise their glasses

You looked around and smiled at the crowd of people who came to celebrate you. It wasn't the 21st birthday you expected but you felt that it would be an enjoyable one.

**October 1st, 1963:**

A year had come and went and now once again it was your birthday. Back at the manor in Dallas, you could hear the hustle and bustle of people getting ready for the party tonight. As you walk downstairs you head towards the dining room for breakfast. When you get there you see a note on the table from your mom.

_Happy birthday, sweetie! I went out with Reggie for the morning so we could get your birthday presents. We'll back home soon._

_\- Love, Mom_

As you sat down one of the butlers came out with a stack of pancakes with candles on top.

"Your mother requested a pancake cake for your breakfast since she couldn't be here." The butler explains as he placed the plate down in front of you

Pulling out a lighter he lights eight candles as you had always requested for your cakes. Once they're all lit you closed your eyes and blew them out, making the same wish you did every year. You wished that things would change and that in one way or another you would get everyone you cared for back. You had three years with no success but you weren't going to stop trying. And this time you hoped it would come true.


	31. Ten Days

**November 25th, 1963:**

Five held on to Allison and (Y/N)'s as the vortex he created opened to take them from the theatre back through time. If they went back just a little bit they could do over what they messed up on and set things right. They had to set things right. It was only a mere few seconds after he had entered before the blue light of the vortex opened and spit him out onto the ground. He looked around for the rest of his family and (Y/N) but they were nowhere to be seen. Concerned, he looked back up towards the blue light frantically calling out,

"(Y/N)! Diego!"

It was no use. Five watched as the vortex closed and left him alone with no one else. As he stood looking at the empty sky he heard a commotion coming from the other direction. Turning around he walked out of the alleyway he was dropped in towards the road. As he approached he was met with a horrific sight. Tanks and soldiers running down the street yelling in...Russian? Five watches as fighter jets fly overhead releasing missiles onto the city. Bright orange explosions litter the sky as he spots a newspaper. Rushing over to it he crouches down on the ground and reads it.

"Soviets attack the US? No, this can't be right." Five says confused

Standing up Five moves more into the street looking up at the chaotic scene before him. He watches as soldiers fire upon each other, blood splattering out of them as they fall to the ground. This was not right.

"What the hell did we do now?" He asks himself

As Five continued to think about what was going on a missile shot from the tank he stood next to knocking him back to the ground. He fell on his back and pressed his eyes closed as his ears rang from the loudness of the explosion. It was as if someone had set off a flash bomb in front of him. When the ringing in his ears started to fade Five stood himself back up. As he did so he heard a voice call out,

"Five! You sick son of a bitch, where the hell have you been?"

Five looked over through the chaos and saw the figure of his brother Diego standing in front of an overturned police car. He didn't see much else but he knew he needed to go help. As he was about to run over a hand caught his shoulder and a voice said,

"If you wanna live, come with me."

Five turned his attention to the person who held him and saw an older version of Hazel standing there.

"Hazel. What the hell's going on here?"

"There's no time to explain. Those are nukes, old-timer." He replies pointing at the projectiles in the sky

"What about my family? And my girlfriend? I still haven't seen her." Five asks concerned

"You can't save 'em if you're dead," Hazel replies

Five looks over at the members of his family he can see before looking back to Hazel. If he was going to keep them safe then he had to leave them, it was his only choice. Quickly, Five grabs Hazel's hand, and the two of them warp away.

**November 15th, 1963:**

As you sat at Stadtler's restaurant with Charlie you looked over the Stadtler's Restaurant menu thinking of what you should eat.

"Charlie, what do you think I should have? A burger or grilled cheese?" You ask

"Grilled cheese is a burger without the meat. It's not a choice if they're practically the same thing." Charlie replies

"Choosing meals is important _Charles_." You joked

"Ew. Don't call me that." Charlie states "Also there are many more important things than the choice of a grilled cheese or burger."

"Oh? Like my equation that you so rudely pull me away from?" You retort

You had been working on your time travel equation for years now but something in your gut told you that you were on to something, that your family and Five would come back to you soon. And if you had to hole yourself up in your room for a few weeks so be it, but Charlie didn't agree with your workaholic nature and the fact that you hadn't slept so he decided to take you to hang out.

"No, I _saved_ you from that equation that you desperately needed to take a break and get away from," Charlie explains

"Wow Charlie, you know what? You're right, you're my hero. Thank you so much." You say sarcastically

"Oh, my pleasure." He replies sarcastically before saying in a serious tone "You do need to step back though, it's not healthy."

"I guess so. It's just I'm close to something, I can feel it in my bones." You reply

As you say that a shiver runs down your spine as it had done many times before when you were on this street. You felt compelled to step outside, maybe even go check the alley where you were dropped but instead you stayed in your seat and asked Charlie once more,

"Burger or grilled cheese?"

"Burger."

As you decided what to eat inside the restaurant Hazel and Five arrived in Dallas. Five looked around confused. The street was intact. There were no dead bodies on the ground or buildings on fire. Everyone was going about life as normal. The two of them stood on the sidewalk behind a bench and in front of a children's clothing store. Five looked at the street and saw many other stores, a movie theater, and a place called Stadtler's Restaurant only two doors down from where they stood. Looking for clarity Five asked,

"Okay...what the hell was that?"

"The end of the world, November 25, 1963." Hazel answers

"'63...You know, Hazel, I'm no history buff, but I don't recall there being a nuclear holocaust." Five replies frazzled

"No shit," Hazel states monotonously

"What about my family?" Five questions, concern evident in his voice

"Dead, like everyone else."

"And where am I now?" 

Hazel walks and sits down on the bench in front of them explaining,

"Dallas. Same street. Ten days earlier. Plenty of time to restore the timeline and save them."

Quickly, Five follows behind and sits on the bench next to him. Concern fills his eyes as he starts to think about his family and the new impending apocalypse. He needed to find them, he needed to find you.

"Okay. So where do we start?"

" _We_? You're on your own, pal. I'm just here to keep a promise to Agnes." Hazel replies

Five could tell by the tone of Hazel's voice and the far off look that something bad had happened to her.

"Is she...?" Five stared to question

Dead?" Hazel asks

"Yeah." Five replied softly

"Cancer. Took her quick. But we had 20 good years together. I guess forever just wasn't in the cards."

Five knew all too well the feeling he was going through. Losing the love of your life, having to spend years that you thought you'd have together all alone. Five's expression softened as he said,

"I'm sorry, Hazel. But what about the Commission?"

"I quit those assholes, remember? I don't owe 'em the fuzz off my peaches." Hazel responded

As Hazel answered him Five looked across the street. Walking from off a bus were three intimidating men with platinum blond hair. Five stood up as the men approached them saying,

"Well then, who the hell are those guys?"

Hazel and Five watched as the three men pulled guns out from under their coats and aimed them in their direction. Without Five noticings Hazel placed something in his pocket before handing him the briefcase and yelling,

"Run!"

As bullets flew towards them Five used the briefcase to jump away and to safety behind a car across the street. Hazel, unfortunately, didn't make it and got shot to death on the bench. The blond-haired men approached the bench to only find the murdered Hazel but no Five. As Five hid behind the car with a now busted briefcase he complained,

"How many times did I say bulletproof briefcases?"

Five carefully looks over the car but as he does he sees the three blond men point their guns towards the car and start to fire once more. Quickly, five spatial jumps to a nearby roof, avoiding getting shot before jumping once more into the alley he arrived in 10 days later. From a window, he saw someone quickly shut their blinds and above on the roof a bunch of mini satellites. Curious, he made his way toward the building and entered through the alley door.

Inside the restaurant, you sat eating your burger when you heard the sound of gunshots from outside. You watched through the windows as people ran away screaming fear. Instincts kicking in you ran outside to see the commotion Charlie following behind yelling,

"Why are we running _towards_ gunfire!"

"Sorry. Force of habit." You replied as you surveyed the scene

"FORCE OF HABIT?!" He exclaimed as he stood next to you

"I did vigilante work with my friends nightly. We ran towards gunfire, not away." You state bluntly

"What kind of life have you lived?" He questioned taken aback

"A complex one."

Charlie looked at you in shock and confusion. You had no clue anymore what things about the future you told him about and what you hadn't. You just dealt with the shock as it came. As he continued to look at you baffled you saw what had been fired upon across the street. Your jaw dropped as you cried out,

"MY CAR!"

You ran over to the vehicle and looked at the numerous bullet holes that littered its side and hood. The glass of the windows was shattered and spread all across the road and interior seats.

"Not my car! I got it for Christmas last year!" 

Charlie looks on in shock as he asks,

"Who could've done this?"

"I don't know but they killed Flo!!" You cry as you throw your distraught self onto the hood

"You named your car...Flo?" he questions

Still laying on the hood you turn your head to look at him as you respond,

"Yeah, I named it after the talking car from the movie Cars because they look alike." You respond sadly

"In the future, they make a movie about talking cars...called Cars?" Charlie questions with disappointment and confusion on his face

You stand back up and flatten out your skirt.

"Yes they did and it was a cinematic masterpiece that presented a nice message of learning to care for others." you state seriously before exclaiming "But that's not the point, whoever did this murdered my car!"

Charlie looks between you and the car. He let out a sigh as he tried to calm you down,

"Why don't we go finish and pay for our meals and then try to find a store that has a phone you can use to call your mom. I think it would be best if you broke the news to your mom first before she hears it through the grapevine from someone else."

As upset as you were over the gruesome death of your beloved Flo you knew he was right and relented. The two of you walked back across the street and into the restaurant to finish and pay for your meals.

After entering the building Five made his way up the stairs. Coming to a door he tried looking through the shutters but when he couldn't see anything he decided to know. Within a second an adjacent door opened and a man stuck his head out.

"What do you want?" He questioned

Trying not to intimidate the man Five put on a polite tone and said,

"Hi, I'm selling encyclopedias for my youth group. I was curious if..."

He was cut off by the door being slammed in his face. If this guy wasn't going to play nice neither was Five. Without hesitation Five jumped from outside the door to inside. The man screamed as he quickly stumbled around trying to get something from a drawer. Pulling out a butter knife he points it in Five's direction asking in a panic,

"How'd you do that?"

"Don't really have time to explain." Five replies

"You from the Pentagon?" the man questions

"Huh? Definitely not." Five states annoyed

"CIA? FBI? KGB?"

"Is that fresh?" Five questions

The man doesn't respond as Five jumps over to a table where a coffee pot sat. The man screams once more as he moves to point his butter knife in Five's direction once more. Five pours coffee from the pot into a mug before walking out of the kitchen. Five gives him a look as he passes the man to enter the living room, taking a sip from the cup of coffee. It was good coffee. Surprisingly good coffee. Five hadn't had a cup of coffee this good in a while. Turning to the man who still looked paralyzed with fear Five asked,

"This Colombian?"

"It's my own blend." The man responds hesitantly

Five walks around the room looking at the newspaper clippings on the walls. All of them littered with headlines about UFOs and extraterrestrials. So he was one of those guys. Five knew the only way to get this man to help him was to play into this fantasy that he believed in. Putting on a more friendly tone Five turns to the man and asks, 

"You ever heard of, uh, Area 51? Roswell?"

The man drops the knife as a smile spreads across his face. Happily moving around he exclaims,

"Hot damn! Whoo! See, I always knew we weren't the only ones. See, Eleanor thought my head wasn't screwed on tight, but... but it's all true, yeah? UFOs, crop circles?"

"Well, the truth is out there." Five says with a smirk

"No, no, no, no, no. The... The truth, it's...right here in front of us." The man says excitedly approaching Five closer "Tell me, wh...why is it always an anal probe?

Uncomfortable with how close the man was Five threatened,

"Any closer, and I'll melt your brain."

"He needs a little space. Yes. I'll be over here." The man states as he quickly backs up

Five walks over to the side of the room behind a desk where many different things like maps, photos, and notes hung. It was as if the concept of conspiracy theories vomited onto the wall. Five looked around at everything.

"All those contraptions on the roof, you built those, right?" He inquires

"Oh, yeah, yeah, sure did. I've been tracking anomalies in the atmosphere. Just waiting." The man answers

"Waiting for what?" Five questioned

"For you. For all of you." The man replied

Five squinted in confusion as the man paced back and forth detailing what he had witnessed.

"It all started in 1960, and for the past three years, I've witnessed five energy surges in that alleyway outback. Same thing every time. A bright blue light, then something appears."

As he spoke, Five moved over to a board with blurry black and white images taped on it. 

"Did you get a good look at any of them?"

"Yeah, the first one. Skinny fellow, dark curly hair, scruffy face, talked to the air a lot." The man answered

"Klaus."

"And then the big, sensitive one." He added

Five turned around confused at to who the sensitive one could be. Looking for more details he asked,

" _Sensitive_?"

"Yeah, cried a lot, kept coming back to the alley, sat around for hours calling a woman's name. Uh...Allison!" The man exclaimed

"Luther." Five stated

"Yeah, he... he wasn't the only one. Uh, the others came too, off and on over the years, looking for each other. Eventually, they... they stopped."

"So, my family is alive." Five said "Shit. I think I stranded them here." 

Five felt his gut sink. He stranded his family members alone in time, but more so he stranded you alone in time AGAIN. How could he do this to you? Why did he ever think that this was a good idea? Sure, all of you were alive but he should've known you'd get separated. He didn't know how he could've known but he should've. Fuck. Trying to understand Five turned to the blurry pictures posted on the board. Looking at them once more he saw Allison, Luther, Diego, and Vanya but there was no you. He didn't see you on November 25th before Hazel took him back in time so he was confused. Turning back to the man Five asked,

"Tell me again how many of them were there?"

"I've witnessed five energy surges. One person each time." The man said

"Only one each time?"

"Yeah,"

Five's mind raced as he thought about what could've happened to you. If his siblings were all the people that had dropped where could you have been? Did this man somehow miss you? Were you dropped in a different time period? Were you stuck in the time vortex? His heart raced as his worry increased because he had no clue what had happened to you and he would be devastated if you were gone again. He couldn't lose you again, he wasn't strong enough to.

"Now listen to me..." Five said as he quickly approached the man

The man stumbled back across the room and away from Five. Fearfully he said aloud.

"Elliott. Elliott. My name... My name's Elliott."

When Elliott came to a stop Five jumped in front of him and firmly stated,

"Whatever, all right? I got ten days to find them and save the world. Now, I need your help to do that."

Elliott became very flustered from Five's statement as he started to mumble out,

"You need... my..." 

Five looked at him closer hoping that the man would stop talking gibberish and actually present him with something, anything that could help lead him to his family and you too.

"You know what? I, uh... I always thought that this, uh, mugshot looked like arrival number four." Elliott says as he pulls out a newspaper clipping

He held it up and Five snatched it out of his hand taking a good look at the image. 

"Diego."

If anyone knew where you were it had to be him. You were his little sister, after all, he was nothing without you. Especially after losing Detective Patch and Grace. Five quickly read over the information and found that he was being held in a psychiatric facility.

"So then, that's helpful?" Elliott questioned

"You have no idea." Five replied enthusiastically

Quickly, Five folded up the newspaper clipping and placed it in his jacket pocket before jumping away towards the facility Diego was being held in.

You though had finished and paid for your meal, but by the time you were done there were lines at many of the local facilities and stores so others could make calls to their loved ones. 

"Shit." You exclaimed

"Listen I'm sure there's a place you can make a call." Charlie comforted

You looked around for a bit and then saw the desolate building across the street by the alley you were found in. 

"Let's try there." You suggest

"The abandoned television store?" Charlie questions 

"Yes, I'm sure there are some leftover electronics like a phone that we could plug in and use." you explain

"I don't know why you say _''we''_. I could go missing for a month and my dad wouldn't care." Charlie complains

"Listen. It's a worth a shot so we don't have to wait for hours in these lines where everyone and their mothers are trying to make calls." You state 

"Alright, fine." Charlie agrees "But if we get caught trespassing we're playing the young, dumb kids routine."

"Okay, that's fair." You reply as you start to walk towards the back alleyway. You read the sign on the door that says Morty's Television Radio Shipping and Receiving. Nothing that said no trespassing though so without a second thought you grabbed onto the door handle and tried to open it. It was locked though so using your powers you reached through the door and unlocked it. Once you opened the door you enter the building with your friend. Charlie followed behind you as you headed up a set of stairs and saw a door at the top. You reached your hand out and gently knocked on it. Within seconds the door swings open and a frazzled man looks at the two of you.

"What do you want? How did you get up here?" He demands

"The door was left open." You lied

"Darn that alien boy." He said

You and Charlie give each other a side-eye look. This man was certifiably insane but you had already come this far it was useless to turn back.

"We were just wondering if we could use your phone to make a call to our parents." Charlie pipes up

"No." The man says as he starts to close the door

You place your foot in the door, using your powers to make it dense so it doesn't hurt when the man tries to close it on you. The man looks down at your foot he just slammed and then back up at you unfazed from what just happened. You tilt your head slightly, a kind smile on your face but a look in your eyes that said otherwise. You stared down the man in front of you and slowly said,

"I have a hundred dollars in my purse that says you let us use your phone and if not, I'll gouge your eyes out."

The man stared you down for a second before opening the door more and quickly saying,

"You know I really could use some spending cash, come right in. Phone is over there next to the fridge."

He points in the direction of the phone and you walk over there. You open your bag and pull out the number that your mom had given you to call her at while she and Reggie were out of town. The two of them had to go back to Reginald's manor up north because they forgot important documents related to Pogo's post-space launch progress. Sucks that this mess happened to happen while they were there. You dialed in the number and listened as it rang. It took a bit but finally, you heard a voice on the other side say,

"Hello, this is Marie head maid at Hargreeves Manor please state your business."

"Marie, it's (Y/N). Could you please place my mom on the phone?" You ask

"Of course, please give me a moment to fetch her." 

You waited for a minute or two but from the other side you heard the sound of your mom's voice. Excitement in her tone as she said,

"Hi sweetie, I miss you so much! What's going on that you called?" 

Oh your poor mom. You knew this would worry her immensely, but you had to tell her the news. Taking a deep breath you explained,

"Well, I just wanted you to find out from me that there was some gunfire that happened when Charlie and I were out and my car got shot up." 

There was silence for a second before you hear a loud yell from the other side of the line.

"WHAT? Oh my poor baby! Are you okay? Is Charlie okay?"

"Mom, mom I'm fine. We're fine." You try to explain

It's no use though as you can hear your mom continue to panic on the other side. The sound of her starting to crying coming through the phone.

"Where are you calling from? The hospital? Are you okay?!"

"Nobody is hurt. Mom please- Mo- Mom." You try to speak

Nothing is working though and your distraught mother will not listen. Trying to communicate what is going on properly you turn to the second-best option and ask your mom,

"Mom put Reggie on the phone. Put him on the phone."

You hear the sound of the phone being quickly passed over to someone else.

"Hello?" He frantically says

"Hey, Reggie!" You say in a tone as if nothing was wrong

"(Y/N) why is your mother crying?" Reginald asks

"My car got shot up. Like lots of bullet holes in it." You explain

"Were you in the car?" He asks

"No."

"Did you see who shot your car?" He questions

"Also no."

Reginald lets out a frustrated sigh and you can hear the crying of your mom in the background of the call.

"Alright, we'll head back as soon as possible and try to get home by tonight. For now, call Charles' father and try to stay with him until we arrive." Reginald commands

"Fine, but he doesn't like going by Charles his name is Charlie." You reply annoyed before asking "And one more thing."

"What?" He asks exasperated

"Do I get a new car because of this?" You inquire

"Yes, we'll get you a new car," Reginald says obviously annoyed at the question

"Cool, see you two later!" You reply before hanging up the phone

You turn to Charlie with a wide smile on your face.

"Guess who's getting a brand new car!" You exclaim

"So much for mourning Flo." Charlie jokes

"Oh shut up and call your dad." You say as you give him a light punch in the arm

Charlie walks over to the phone and dials in the number to his dad's office. He explains the situation that occurred to his father and how Reginald told the two of you to stay with him. You watch as the positive expression he had on his face at the start of the call slowly starts to fade away the longer it goes on. After a few minutes, Charlie hangs up the phone and turns to you.

"My dad says we can stay with him but unfortunately I don't think you'll appreciate where we have to stay with him." Charlie states

"Where is it?" You ask

"The burlesque club downtown." He says annoyed

You let out an annoyed sigh. You did not want to go to the burlesque club but there really was no other option because Reginald and Grace wanted you protected and apparently Charlie's dad was the best option. I guess that's what happens when your friend's dad works for the government. You nod your head and look towards your friend.

"Alright well, we better get walking then." You reply

Charlie nods his head and starts to walk towards the door. Keeping your word you pull out a hundred dollar bill and slap it on the kitchen table. As you start to walk out of the apartment you add,

"Thank you..."

"Elliott." He replies

"Thank you for letting us use your phone Elliott."

And with that, you and Charlie left to make your way downtown towards the burlesque club.

While you walked downtown, Five made his way uptown to the psychiatric facility where Diego was locked up. When he got there he checked in saying he was visiting his brother and was escorted to a room to wait for him. Five sat for a while but then from down the hall he could hear the annoying sound of Diego's voice complaining to the guards. Five sat back in his metal chair as Diego entered the room. A look of awe on his face as he saw one of his family members alive.

"Five." Diego whispered shocked

"Hey, Diego. You look good in white." Five commented

Diego pulled out the chair and sat across from his brother. He looked the exact same as the last time he saw him, at the theatre before putting everyone into this mess. Diego had no clue where any of his family was until now but what was concerning that you weren't with Five. Every day he sat in this nut-house was one less day where he was finding you. If Five was out there though then you had to be too, but just like the last time he jumped through time, he didn't come back until it was too late.

"About time you showed up." Diego retorted

"How'd you know I'd be back?" Five questioned leaning forward in his chair

"Because that's the kind of shit you pull." Diego ridiculed

"How long have you been here?" Five questioned Diego

"Seventy-five days. Landed in the alley behind-" Diego started

"Commerce and Knox." Both finished

"You?" Diego asks

"I got here this morning." Five states

"How'd you find me?"

Five scoffs a bit before reaching into his jacket and pulling out the newspaper clipping he got from Elliott. Pushing it over towards Diego, Five says,

"Page 16. _''Disturbed man with multiple knives arrested outside 1026 N. Beckley''_. That's Lee Harvey Oswald's house. Care to explain?"

Diego looks at the newspaper. He hated the condescending tone in Five's voice. Of course, he thought he knew better but Diego knew what he was doing, he was going to save the president. Diego leans forward and explains,

"Let's just say Dallas Law Enforcement has not been supportive of my attempt to stop the assassination of...John F. Kennedy."

"Because it hasn't happened yet." Five retorts quietly

"And it's not going to happen. Not on my watch." Diego whispers leaning in more "Look, I've been shaving down the bars in my room. Another day or two, and I'll be out of this place, then I'm gonna stop Oswald and save the president. You want in, say the word."

Five leans in back. Annoyed at his brother's stupidity he commands,

"Listen to me very closely, you gibbering moron. You are not going to do a goddamn thing."

"Why not?"

"Because we have to stop the apocalypse." Five chastises

"No shit. But that doesn't happen for another 60 years." Diego remarks

"Not that apocalypse. This is a new one. It followed us. I've seen it. Nuclear war, Diego, in ten days." Five explains concerned

Diego slowly sits back in his seat laughing as he does so. Crossing his arms he looks across the table at his brother. Ridiculous. What could he be going on about? He stares his brother down, a smirk on his face as he says,

"And I'm the one they locked up, huh? Fine, I'll play along. What causes it?"

"I don't know. Maybe some looney-tuned asshole with a hero complex tried to save the president and screwed everything up." Five rebukes angrily

"So you're saying it worked? I saved the president? I knew I could do it. Okay, okay, I'll help you."

"Thank God." Five replies

"After I save Kennedy. And then you swing us back a few decades so I can slit Hitler's throat off with a butter knife."

Five narrows his eyes at his brother. Somehow in 75 days, he had gone from a guy with a hero complex to an all-out wackjob with a hero complex. Shaking his head in disappointment he comments,

"This is why you don't have any friends."

"Pfft, like you do?" Diego scoffs

Five was confused. Diego knew he had friends or well...a friend. He had you. Straightening himself out Five tries to not be bothered by his brother's arrogance as he states,

"Yes. (Y/N) is my best friend. Now, where is she, Diego?"

"I don't know. When I arrived she was gone. Along with locating Oswald, I tried searching for her before getting thrown in here. So she's not with you?" Diego explains with concern in his voice

If there was one thing the two of them agreed on it was their love for you. Both of them needed you and needed you to be found.

"No, she's not with me. I thought she would be with you, she was on your back." Five replies

"She was holding your hand." Diego remarks

"You're no help. I'll find her." Five replies rolling his eyes

"No, once I get out, I'll find her. She's _my_ sister." Diego spat

"She's _my_ girlfriend." Five spits back

"Yeah, and look how great of a boyfriend you are. Losing her in time twice."

Five's eyes went wide and a lump in his throat formed. He never meant to strand you in time to begin with. It was his biggest regret that he turned your life upside down and left you alone. It wasn't his intention to do it again either. He wanted you all to be together alive because he couldn't lose his family or you again. He thought you would all be together. when arriving but he messed up. He already had to deal with the fact that Elliott had no information on you. He didn't know where you were. Every lead was a dead end. And now to have his brother hit him right in the heart with his biggest regret, the thought that pained him most, he didn't want to deal with him anymore. If Diego was going to be spiteful, so was he. Fixing his jacket he stood up from his chair and trying to steady his voice he said,

"You know what? Guard. My brother is plotting an escape. The bars of his room have been shaved down."

"Piece of shit! No!" Diego yelled

Diego attempted to jump over the table to get Five but it was no use as he was held down on the table and restrained by two guards.

"Look, this is for your own good, Diego." Five stated

"No! Five!" Diego called

Five looked up at the guards and nurse who was sticking Diego with a needle full of sedatives. Putting on a sympathetic voice he said,

"My brother is a very sick man. I only pray that he gets the help he so desperately needs."

"No, please! Not the needle!" Diego yells out as the nurse presses the needle down

"Nighty night asshole." Five said before leaving the room

As Five walked down the hall he rolled his shoulders back as if trying to roll Diego's comments off his shoulder but it wasn't working. Maybe he wasn't that great of a boyfriend. Hell, maybe he wasn't even that great of a friend. He promised you no apocalypse, no time travel and he broke that. If he ever found you, would you even be happy to see him? Would you still love him after putting you through this again? He didn't know, but he still had to find you no matter the outcome because he'd rather you stop loving him than to have you perish in this new apocalypse. Five thought that maybe a different sibling could help him, so he set out to find one willing to listen.

You and Charlie had spent a bit of time walking to the Carousel Club where Charlie's dad was. When you arrived you could see the start of the nightlife and burlesque shows that this place ran. Men started coming through the door to tables and ordering drinks at the bar while barely dressed women danced on stage. Charlie's dad brought you to a little room upstairs and said that you'd be staying there until he was finished. He placed a pack of playing cards on the table and then left without another word. The room was small and nicely decorated. You could only imagine the purpose of it though. It had two couches, a table in between them, and a window so you could see the show. As you looked out the window you clearly saw the girls on the stage, but everyone else was a just small blackened shadow. You let out a huff as you cautiously sat down on one of the couches. 

"At least he was kind enough to leave us some cards." You comment

"It was surprising that he did so." Charlie said as he sat down on the opposite couch "The man has a heart smaller than the grinch"

"Yeah most men in your father's line of business have small hearts." You reply as you pick up the deck of cards

"Reginald too?" Charlie asks

"Of course. Sure he _might_ have genuine feelings for my mom but outside of her everyone and everything is some type of asset."

"You included?" Charlie questions "I know you're not a fan due to your future experiences but this version seems to almost act, uh, how do I put this...parental?" 

"Honestly Charlie, I don't know. The future version was probably lenient because he had the knowledge that I could easily kill him, but then again he also called me number zero implying that I was better than number one," You explain

"Luther." Charlie says

"Yeah, Luther." You say before continuing "This version however doesn't know I have powers and could kill him so maybe he's nicer because of my mom? I don't know. He's not the same man I knew in 2019 but that doesn't mean he's a whole new person. He's strategic and calculated, he does things for a reason."

"Don't take this as me trying to convince you to like him because let's be honest he's just as bad as my dad, but for someone who hates children he does seem to like you."

"I'll say this, no matter what time period, we've always had a complicated relationship but if he likes me now that's on him. I on the other hand will do what I have always done and tolerate him."

"If there was alcohol in this room I'd drink to that." Charlie says as he leans back on the couch across from you "So, want to play 21?"

"Sure, let's play 21." You replied as you dealt the cards out

The music from the show rang throughout the building as you and Charlie played card games upstairs. Downstairs though Five had just walked into the door of the place. After he had left the psychiatric hospital he walked back towards Elliott's place when he saw the poster for a boxing match with one of the men fighting under the name King Kong. It might've just been a coincidence but Five thought he knew who it might've been. So instead of continuing his path back to Eliott's, Five headed towards the Carousel Club. As he looked around he saw many different men sitting at tables as a woman danced on stage. Five wanted to sit at the bar and wait to see if he could find Luther but all the seats were taken. He spotted an open seat right in front of the stage and reluctantly walked over to sit down there. He tilted his head so it looked like he was watching the show but in reality, he was off daydreaming about you. He thought about taking your hand and dancing around with you in an apocalypse free world, the two of you having no cares in the world. It started to bring a smile to his face but he was pulled out of his daydream when a voice said,

"She's too young for you."

"Nice to see you too, Luther, and don't talk like that you know I'm not interested." 

"What do you want then?" Luther asked

"For you to stop hovering like an ambitious stripper and sit down with me." Five quipped

Luther grabbed a nearby chair and sat down next to him.

"How long have you been here?" Five asked

"A year, thanks to you." Luther complained

"I'm sorry, Luther. I know that couldn't have been easy." Five apologizes

"I thought everybody was dead." Luther retorts

Five wanted to say more but from across the room a loud voice could be heard drunkenly yelling,

"Come on, Jack! Don't make me beg!"

"I gotta go." Luther stated standing up

Five quickly grabbed Luther's arm. He knew how Luther felt, the emotions that he must've gone through, what he was possibly still going through. Luther looked down at Five and Five looked back. A softer, caring expression shown on his face. 

"Luther, wait. Look, I get it, okay? I know what it's like to be stuck in time. Thinking this is how you're gonna live out the rest of your life. On the run, and not knowing if you're ever gonna see the people you love again, and to be in an unfamiliar world." Five explains sincerely "But Luther, you're not alone. We have to find the others because the world ends again in ten days. I have no idea how to stop it."

"I don't give a shit." Luther replies flatly

He starts to walk away and Five follows, him grabbing his arm once more and pulling him over to the now desolate bar. As the sound of the burlesque music played in the background Five looked up at Luther and chastised,

"The hell is wrong with you, Luther? I just told you the world's gonna end in ten days."

"Yeah, well, you're always saying that." Luther remarks

"And so far, I've been right." Five emphasizes

"Look, you want to go save the world? Knock yourself out. All right? I already got a job."

"Wait, you work in this shithole?" Five questions 

"Yeah. Well, my boss owns the place. I'm his body man." Luther answers

"What's that? Like a masseuse or something?" Five asks confused

"Okay, you can make fun all you want, but I take good care of Mr. Ruby."

"Wait, Ruby? The Jack Ruby, the gangster who shot Oswald?" Five states

"Yeah, the one and only." Luther responds

"Well, it finally happened. That gorilla DNA has taken over your mind." Five remarks

Luther leans in closer to Five and angrily whispers,

"Hey, watch it, all right? Jack's a good friend."

"And you're Number One. Remember?"

"Who cares if I'm Number One? Your girlfriend is Number Zero, go get her help." Luther comments

"Number One, I- I don't know where she is..." Five trails off with a distant look in his eyes

"Listen, there is no Number One. Not anymore. Not in 1963. I've been stranded here alone for a year. What did you expect?"

Five snaps out of his trance and comes back to reality. Looking up at Luther he comments in an annoyed tone trying to convince him to help.

"I get it, all right? You watched Pogo die, the world exploded, and I marooned your big dumb ass in time. I'm sorry, okay? But I'm asking for your help, Luther. The Umbrella Academy needs you."

"It doesn't need me. It never did." Luther replies

One of the many women who worked at the club then approaches Luther commenting,

"Luther, honey, Jack's about to lose it on some half-wit. A little help?"

"Shit." Luther replies as he looks off to where Jack is

Finished with the conversation Luther starts to walk away but Five grabs his arm one more time, turning him around.

"Luther, wait."

"Listen. You're the genius who said we should jump. Right? You're the one who got us stuck here. And you're the one who brought Vanya. So if there is a doomsday coming, she's probably the cause. And if I was gonna do something about it, it sure as hell is not gonna be with you." Luther criticizes harshly

With that Luther walks off and over towards where Mr. Ruby was to get the man to leave and Five sat down at the bar. Back upstairs you and Charlie had exhausted your card game options and were tired of sitting around. It was getting late so instead of waiting for Charlie's dad to finish whatever business he had, Charlie decided to go get the car keys from him. It took a few minutes but he came back successfully swinging the keys around his finger.

"My dad said he'd take a cab home since he doesn't want to wreck his car. Makes sense since he's already, uh, how do you put it? Schlammered?" Charlie explains

"Yeah, schlammered. You got it." You reply

Charlie smiled with pride knowing he got the slang term right before asking,

"Ready to go home?"

"I've been ready for hours." You reply

Together the two of you quietly walk downstairs, past the bar, and out to where the car was. Charlie took the driver's side while you sat in the passenger seat. The two of you pulled away from the burlesque club and drove off into the night back towards where you lived. When you arrived back at your house you entered the front door and were immediately met by a pair of arms wrapping around you.

"Oh, sweetie are you okay!? We came back as quick as we could!" Your mom asked concerned

"I'm fine!" you respond happy to be home

"Then why are you covered in blood?" She says between cries

"Mom, my dress is the color red, this isn't blood." You explain nonchalantly "If this was blood, I would be dead by now."

That was apparently not the correct response. You never were very good at comforting the parental figures in your life. As your mother begins to get more upset, Reginald enters the foyer and asks,

"Where is Mr. Anderson?"

"Still at the burlesque club doing business I guess." Charlie complains

"He kept you two at a burlesque club?"

"Yeah, for hours with only a deck of cards to play with. This has been such an awful day, my car was destroyed and I spent most of the day in the vicinity of sweaty drunk men and scantily-clad women."

"Charlie, please let your father know that I'll be having a word with him about his actions today."

"Yes sir." Charlie replied

"Speaking of cars, when can we go get a new one?" You ask

"After we attend the gala at the consulate on Monday." Reginald states

"Oh fine." you relent "I'm going to go to bed now though. Today has been long."

"Very well. I think your mother needs to get rest as well." Reginald says "Charlie, if you would like to spend the night just ask one of the maids to set you up with the proper bedding."

"Thank you sir." Charlie responds

The two of you watch as Reginald guides a still distressed Grace upstairs and out of sight. You then turn to Charlie and ask,

"You gonna take a guest room or use the sleeping bag on my bedroom floor?"

"I'll use the sleeping bag, just don't yeet pillows at me while I sleep."

"Fine, I won't because you got the word right." you reply

The two of you walk up to your bedroom. Pulling the sleeping bag out of your closet you use your powers to throw it at him, knocking him to the ground.

"What was that for?" He questions

"You never said anything about yeeting the sleeping bag." You reply

Charlie rolls his eyes as he undoes the sleeping bag. Taking off his shoes he climbs in and immediately passes out from exhaustion. You grab a pair of pajamas and head to the bathroom to change before heading back and passing out as well. The last thought before slumber overtook was of your beloved Five and when you'd ever cross his path again.

\-------------------------------------

The next morning came and Five was back at Elliott's. His attempts to get his siblings help were futile so far but he did have a new lead. Last night, as he headed out from the Carousel Club he found a box of footage in his pocket. Knowing that he was not the one to put it there he had to assume it was something Hazel gave to him secretly before he died. Needing it developed, Five approached Elliott for the task as he had developed all of his own images that he took of Five's siblings when they arrived. Elliott accepted but before Five could discuss the footage more Five overheard that patients from the psychiatric building had escaped. Knowing Diego would be one of them, Five left the film to be developed with Elliott as he decided to set out and find his stupid brother. Knowing he would probably trying to track Oswald, Five jumped around different parts of town where Oswald was known to frequent. It didn't take long to hear the voice of his lunatic brother coming out of a car near the Texas School Book Depository where Oswald worked. It took a bit of convincing, but more like blackmail, to get Diego to come along but he relented so long as he brought his nut-house lady friend with him. Five was annoyed by this but he needed his brother's help. Together all of them went back to Elliott's place but when they arrived Elliott came out from the back of the apartment brandishing a shotgun. Pointing it at the three of them he yelled,

"Where did you get the film? "The Frankel Footage." The truth this time."  
  
"You know this lunatic?" Diego asked  
  
"New acquaintance. He's harmless." Five responded  
  
"Are you sure about that?" Lila asked

The three of them looked back towards Elliott who looked like he was about to lose his mind. He moved the gun between the three of them before exclaiming loudly.  
  
"ARE YOU OR ARE YOU NOT AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE?"  
  
"Such an open-ended question," Diego commented

"Really depends on the people." Five added

Elliott moved the gun to point it at Five. Five wasn't concerned by it though, many times during his time in the academy and his time working for the commission he had a gun pointed at him. He wasn't afraid. If anyone was afraid it was Elliott as he commanded,  
  
"You move one more muscle, I will blow your brains out."  
  
"You want to take this or should I?" Diego asks

"No, I got him." Five responds

Five narrows his eyes at Elliott before spacial jumping in front of the gun and pushing it upwards into the air. Elliott hits the trigger releasing a gunshot into the ceiling but immediately after Diego took the gun away from him and unloaded the bullets. Looking on in shock and confusion Lila asks,   
  
"What the hell just happened?"  
  
The boys don't explain much though. Instead, they restrain Elliott by tying him to a chair and gagging him. Bringing the chair into the kitchen they close the doors to the living room and set up a projection screen. Lila starts to paint Elliott's toenails while Five loads the footage and starts the recording. At first, everything is simple with a nice old couple bickering about how to work the camera they were using. As the film goes on Lila comments,  
  
"They're so cute. I love old couples. I'm always so proud of them for not murdering each other."

When he saw the two old people Five couldn't help but think of you. He wanted to grow old with you and he did once, but that was the imaginary version. He wanted to spend all his time with the real version. Responding to Lila's comment Five stated,

"Well if you really love someone you strive to live forever with them."

"Aw, do you love someone?" She asked

"It's none of your business" Five replied putting on a harsher tone

"Jeez it was just a question." she replies  
  
"Why are we watching this?" Diego asks annoyed

"Shush." Five reprimands

On-screen the voice of the old couple can be heard saying,

 _I'm Dan Frankel. And...I'm Edna Frankel. We are in Dallas, Texas, to see the president. Today's date is November 22, 1963._  
  
"Well, that's six days from now." Lila comments  
  
"Holy shit." Diego says sitting forward with new interest "This is it. The grassy knoll. Kennedy's about to get shot. How do you have this?"  
  
"Hazel died to get me this footage. It must be the key to stopping doomsday." Five responds  
  
"Hazel?" Diego asks

"Long story." Five states  
  
"What's doomsday?" Lila questions

"Longer story." Five replies  
  
"What exactly did he say to you?" Diego wonders  
  
"Well, he was killed before he could explain. But whatever he wanted us to see, it's on this film." Five says

As they continue to watch the film things turn south. A gunshot rings out as the camera falls in a panic. The president had been shot.  
  
"Oswald." Diego says aloud

As the camera tumbles down to the ground Five catches a glimpse of something on the film that he did not expect to see.  
  
"Oh, no." Five mumbles

Rewinding the film for a bit Five pauses it when he comes to the frame in question. His eyes wide with shock as he pulls the projector back to largen the image before him.  
  
"This can't be." He says quietly as he approaches the projection  
  
"Okay, you gonna fill me in now, boys? What the hell is this shit we're watching?" Lila asks

Her question is ignored though as both Five and Diego move closer to the image on the screen.  
  
"No, that's impossible." Diego says  
  
"Clearly, it's not." Five replies  
  
"What... What is it?" Elliott asks through his gag

They couldn't believe the image in front of them but there he stood.  
  
"Dad." They said at the same time

Five starts to pace back and forth trying to think of an explanation for this. Why would his dad be there at Kennedy's assassination? Why would Hazel give him this film? Five had no clue what was going on and his mind was drawing a blank on what made finding his dad so important. Diego sat on the kitchen table contemplating what was going on.

"Of course Dad would be involved in the assassination. I should've known." Diego mumbled  
  
"No, you're jumping to conclusions." Five said frazzled as he continued to pace  
  
"What else is he doing standing on the grassy knoll, holding an open black umbrella on a sunny day in Dallas the exact same moment the president gets shot?" Diego yells as he gets up and points at the screen  
  
"It doesn't look good, I admit." Five replies  
  
"No, he's the signalman for the whole goddamn thing." Diego theorizes  
  
"Easy, Diego. Seriously." Five tries to reason  
  
"No, it makes sense. This is what Hazel was obviously trying to tell you. We have to stop Dad  
from killing the president." Diego states  
  
"Diego, calm down, all right? Dad was no Boy Scout, but presidential assassination? It's never been his thing." Five explains

"How would you know? You skipped out on his golden years." Diego retorts

Five's blood boils at those words. How dare he make assumptions about what Five knew. He still had to live 13 years with the man before he ran off and made the biggest mistake of his life. Five stared Diego down with anger in his eyes as he slowly approached him.  
  
"Skipped out? You think I had it easy, Diego? I was alone for 45 years in a desolate wasteland." Five yells "You know what else I dealt with? I didn't just find her dead like the rest of you Diego. I _watched_ her die. Fucks sake, I held her lifeless body in my arms! You think you lost her when we jumped? No. I LOST HER."

"Who is this?" Lila asks

"Stay out of it!" Five snaps at her before walking away saying "You know what? We don't have the time for this right now. Dad's clearly in Dallas, right? Let's just go talk to him. Maybe he can help us fix the timeline."  
  
"Dallas is a big place. We need to find him first." Diego replies  
  
"Gee, if only we had some magical, old-timey way of finding people and their addresses." Five says sarcastically 

Diego rolls his eyes and the two of them look for a telephone book. Once they find it they throw it down on the kitchen table. Placing his hands in his pockets Five directs Diego.

"Let's start simple. His name."

"Hargreeves... Hargreeves... Hargreeves...Shit, nothing here." Diego said as he looked  
  
"Try his company, D.S. Umbrella Manufacturing Co."  
  
"Yeah, I know the name. Thanks." Diego comments sarcastically as he searches

It takes a bit of time but when he finally spots it Diego says,

"Holy shit. _''D.S. Umbrella. Eighty-two Olive.''_ "

Both Five and Diego look at each other and know what they have to do. Without hesitation Five states,

"Let's go."  
  



	32. A Meeting At The Consulate

After leaving Elliott's place, Diego and Five drove in silence to 82 Olive Street where their father's business was. There was still tension in the air from the words exchanged earlier. A heavy weight hung over both of them but nothing was said. The two boys looked ahead at the road, Five in the passenger seat and Diego driving the car he had stolen with Lila only a few days before. The drive wasn't long and when they arrived at the building Five looked over at it and stated,

"This is it."

The two of them walked out of the car and as they approached the doors of the building Diego restated,

"D.S. Umbrella. This is it."

While Diego kept walking Five had stopped in his tracks. He didn't know if he was going to see his father again and if he was, well he didn't really want to. After the stupid move he made of jumping through time in a fit of rage all those years ago, a decision that ruined the lives of much more than his, he was nervous about what the old man would have to say now. Diego looked back at his brother frozen in place and asked,

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just..." Five trails off as he approaches the door

Five stops talking and instead leans against the wall next to the doors. He watches as Diego pulls out a knife and tries to pick the locks.

"How long's it been since you've seen the old man?" Diego asks

"Forty-five years." Five replies shoving his hands in his pockets

"That's a trip."

"No kidding. You know, when I was stuck out there in the apocalypse, there wasn't a day that went by where I didn't hear his voice in my head." Five replies

"What was he saying?" Diego asks

" _I told you so_." Five says imitating the old man

"Well, if Dad's here, he's never met you before, so he can't say _I told you so_." Diego tries to comfort

"I'm sure he'll find a way." Five complains

Five leaned his head back against the wall as Diego still worked away trying to pick the lock. He looked up at the stars in the sky and the moon up above. He wondered where you were, and if you were out there were you looking at them too. Five let out a sigh as he continued saying,

"I'm just glad he wasn't the only voice. I'd hear the old man berate me and then I'd hear her voice fighting back at him. Even in my head, she wouldn't let him win."

"She never did..." Diego quietly responded

A silence hung in the air for a second before Five broke it by saying,

"Anyway."

Jumping into the building Five unlocks the door from the inside and then opens it so his brother can step into the building.

"Right. Gotta remember that." Diego says

The two enter the building and as Diego looks around Five turns on a nearby lamp. Walking away he goes to stand next to his brother but as he does the lamp turns off.

"Shit." Five said as he looked at the lamp

"Guess Dad wasn't much for home decor." Diego comments

Five takes a good look around and then hits the basic couch right beside him. Something about this just let off.

"Feels more like a front." Five replied

"A front for what?" Diego questions

"I don't know."

"Well, I'll take the left. Yell if you, uh... get in trouble." Diego states

The two brothers then split up. Diego going through the left door and Five going through the right. As Five walked down the hallway behind the right door he entered many rooms and saw mannequins dressed up and posed as if they were in different scenes. Entering one of the rooms he saw a desk covered in papers on the far side. Carefully, he approached the desk and started to search through the papers. As he does so he finds an opened envelope. Pulling the letter out of the open envelope he sees an invitation to a gala being held at the Mexican consulate. He didn't know if his father would be there but this might be the best bet he has right now in terms of finding the man. Folding the envelope up he places it in his pocket, but as he does so he can hear a rustling come from behind him. Looking around the room he spots something moving in the corner. Carefully, he makes his way over there, and coming out from the dark corner he sees a small figure. As the figure comes into the light he sees a young but familiar face.

"Pogo." He whispers

Five slowly crouches down as Pogo approaches him. When Pogo gets close enough Five adds quietly,

"Hey. It's all right, little buddy. Pogo. It's good to see you."

Five tried to reach out and touch Pogo but as he did so Pogo slashed at him and scratched his neck. Five covered the scratches on the neck with his hand as Pogo jumped through a glass window and out of the room. Fearful of what other dangers might be around Five yelled out to his brother,

"Diego!"

Five got no response. Not wanting to get into any more trouble he ran out to the front where the car should've been but it was gone. Diego probably took it and left without him. Prick. Annoyed and injured Five started the trek back to Elliott's place. When he got close enough he spacial jumped up to the apartment. As he did so he heard the sound of a man yelling. Walking into the living room he saw his brother being worked on by the suspicious girl from the psychiatric center, Lila.

"Oh. He isn't dead." Five commented bluntly

"Disappointed?" Lila questioned

"Oh, to see you?" Five replied sarcastically "Always."

"So much hostility in such a tiny package." Lila replied noticing the scratches on his neck "Did you cut yourself shaving? I could teach you to shave like a big boy."

"No, I just ran into an old family friend." Five answered

Looking around Five noticed that Elliott was still tied up and asleep in the chair they had put him in earlier.

"You didn't untie him?" Five questions

"Was I supposed to?" Lila questions back

Five shakes his head in annoyance and turns away from Lila without another word. Heading over to sleeping Elliott he unties his restraints before heading off to figure out where everyone else was.

**\----------------------------------------------------**

**Monday, November 18th, 1963:**

From your bed, you stared up at your ceiling wondering if you should even get up at all. The morning of the consulate gala had arrived but you were less than enthusiastic to go. It was just another work party that Reggie was dragging you to. You didn't have much of a choice though if you wanted a new car you had to attend. You let out a huff as you sat up and forced yourself out of bed. As you opened the door something fell back onto the floor. You tilted your head to the side, confused, as you looked at what fell.

"Charlie?" You questioned

"Hey (Y/N)." He replied looking up from the floor

"How long were you sitting against my door?" You question

"Around an hour and a half." Charlie replied, "You said to pick you up at 10:30 so we could have lunch at 11 today."

"Oh, you're right." You say "Sorry Charlie, I was just thinking about today."

Charlie gets up from laying on the ground and leans against your door frame. Putting his hands in his pockets he looks at you and asks,

"Business party blues?"

"Yeah..." You reply "It's just there's nothing there for me, I mean other than you but still."

"Yeah, I get it."

"Like it's fun to dress up but there's not much to do after that, but I don't get my new car unless I go because according to Reggie, my mom, him, and I are an "influential unit" and need to show up together."

"That's quite an emotionless way to say, rich family," Charlie remarks sarcastically

"I know right. Gross."

You look off to the side and let out another huff of annoyance. Charlie picked up on your disdain and could tell how unhappy you were. He wasn't happy to go either, he'd rather stay home or hang out with you. The galas and parties that his dad and Reginald hosted or attended were never that great because there was just nothing interesting to do. Charlie didn't want you to get so down before even getting there so placing his hands on your shoulders he says,

"Listen it's not all that bad. I think tonight will be the most interesting party you've gone to."

"I went to a party hosted by Kenny." You reply

"It will be the second most interesting party you've gone to." Charlie corrected

"Oh really? How so?" You jokingly asked

Charlie let go of your shoulders and walked past you into your room. Turning quickly on his heel he looked back at you.

"Think about it we show up to this gala dressed to the nines, everyone is looking at us, two young debutants-"

"A debutante is typically a young aristocratic woman."

"Actually that's debutante with the letter e at the end, a debutant without the "e" just means a young aristocratic person." Charlie retorts "So as I was saying...TWO YOUNG DEBUTANTS."

You laugh at your friend and make your way over to the foot of your bed to sit down. Charlie continues to explain making grand gestures with each phrase saying,

"We're going to have a great time. We'll samba when everyone else is doing the paso double, we'll make fun of Reginald and my dad's coworkers' sons because they're completely brainless, I'll steal us some alcohol and we can drink it without Reginald or your mom seeing and who knows maybe so other cool stuff will happen!"

A smirk comes to your face as you relent to his optimistic outlook and reply,

"Alright, alright. It'll be a good time."

"Not just a good time! It _will_ be the second most interesting party you've been to!"

"Fine, it will be the second most interesting party I've been to." you state "So do you want to go eat?"

"Oh god yes, I'm starving."

"Let me get ready then."

Charlie nods and walks out of your room as you close the door so you can start to get ready for the day. Hopefully, the party would be as interesting as Charlie was making it out to be.

**\----------------------------------------------------**

Five had spent all of the prior day trying to convince Vanya to help him but with her storming off back to the farm she was living on he had to turn his focus to the gala happening tonight. Heading back to Elliot's place with another rejection from a sibling he knew he had to turn to Diego to help. Out of all of his siblings, he got stuck with the one who is too stupid to realize his lady friend isn't who she says she is and thinks he can save JFK. He can't. When Five arrived at Elliott's he flashed upstairs to find Diego shirtless on the couch while Lila redressed his stab wound. Five had no clue why she was being so caring. Maybe it was part of her facade.

"Where's Vanya?" Diego asked

"Well, after some guys attacked her and she found out she caused the last apocalypse, she didn't want to come." Five replied bluntly 

"So, what, you just let her go?" Diego follows up

"Well, Vanya had a lot to process. She'll come around. I know she will." Five said as he paced about the room

"What about the guys that went after her?" Diego questions

"The Swedes?" Five states

"Yeah, I mean, how do you know they won't go after her again?" Diego replies

"We don't." Five answers

As Five replies, Elliott hands out coffees to the group. Taking her drink from him Lila asks,

"Mm, any idea who sent them?"

"Oh, I have my suspicions." Five replied looking over at her with a cocky smirk. 

This game she was playing wasn't fooling him. Sitting down on a chair across from Lila and Diego Five changes his tune stating,

"But right now, our priority is finding Dad and getting answers, 'cause everything else depends on it."

"Which, for the record, I found him already," Diego argues

"And then let him go before we could have a meaningful conversation." Five retorts

"He stabbed me!" Diego exclaims

"I'm surprised he waited this long, Diego. We've all had the urge." Five comments

Elliott and Lila laugh at the comment while Diego looks around in annoyance. It seemed that the apocalypse only made him more of a little shit than less. Raising her hand for a high five Lila says,

"Good one."

Five looked over at Lila with her hand still up. Ignoring the gesture Five pulled out the invitation he took and handed it over to Diego while stating,

"Good thing I know where Dad's gonna be tonight."

"Where'd you get this?" Diego asks taking the invitation from Five

"Found it at his office while he was busy stabbing you." Five answers

"Hmm. _Hoyt Hillenkoetter and the Consulate General of Mexico in Dallas cordially invite you to a gala._ " Diego reads aloud

"Whoa, wait. Hoyt Hillenkoetter? Are you serious?" Elliott exclaims getting up from his seat

"You know him?" Five questions

"We should go. Says there's gonna be a seafood tower." Lila comments to Diego

Elliott shuffles papers around on his desk as he explains,

"No, Hillenkoetter is...is one of the Majestic Twelve."

"The hell is the Majestic Twelve?" Diego asks

"It's a... a secret committee. Uh, scientists, military, uh, deep state. No one knows what they really do." Elliott replies

"Wait, so they're government?" Diego follows up

"Shadow government. Yeah, Kennedy was the first president to try to push 'em into the light,  
but these guys are not to be trifled with." Elliott continues as he sifts through more paper 

After a bit more searching, Elliott finds what he was looking for. Bringing over the item he places a picture down on the coffee table in front of everyone.

"Oh, here we go. Ah, right here. This, uh... Oh, right here. That's Hoyt right there." Elliott says 

Five, Diego and Lila all look at the image of men sitting around a table.

"Huh. I only count 11." Lila comments

"Well, that's because they've only identified 11 so far," Elliott replies

"Who's the twelfth then?" Lila asks

Five and Diego look up from the image and at each other knowing who it would be. The twelfth member is their dad. They needed to find him and fast. 

**\----------------------------------------------------**

After getting back from lunch with Charlie you had to start getting ready for the gala in a few hours. Heading to your room you were met by Marie.

"Hello, Marie." You said

"Hello (Y/N), I'm here to do your hair and makeup for the event this evening." She replied

"Sounds lovely Marie." You commented as you opened the door to your room

The two of you walked in and made your way over to your vanity. Sitting down on the stool you looked at yourself in the mirror as Marie grabbed a brush and started to detangle your hair. You closed your eyes as she ran the brush through your hair thinking about the gala tonight. You knew that Charlie was trying to cheer you up about the whole affair but you hoped he was right. You wanted the night to be interesting rather than the same type of gathering for a bunch of rich white guys to drink and call it business. Closing your eyes tight, you wished hard that something big would happen. You just hoped that your wish came true.

After Marie finished brushing your hair she styled it in a nice updo, with your input of course. You were fine with your hair being up but you wanted a more modern version for the gala. Once you were happy with your hair Marie helped with your makeup. It was nothing too extravagant but not unnoticeable either. With hair and makeup complete, Marie took her leave and you changed out of your casual attire into the dress you were wearing. It was a beautiful, white, strapless dress that stopped right above the knee. You traced your fingers over the delicate floral detailing that covered the dress before putting on a matching pair of white heels. As you looked at yourself in your mirror you heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," You called

You heard the door open behind you and turned around to see Charlie standing there dressed in a nice suit with his hair a bit more styled.

"Well, don't you clean up nice." You comment

"Ha, don't get used to it." Charlie retorts "I hate suits they make me look more like my dad."

"Well for what it's worth you don't look like your dad to me, just a better dressed Charlie." You reply

"Thanks (Y/N). You look lovely by the way."

"You think so?" You ask

"I know so," Charlie replies "I'm sure your boyfriend would be speechless if he could see you now."

"Ha, I'd be speechless if I saw him." You joke before becoming a bit sad at the thought

The smile on your face falters as you think of your boyfriend. You wondered when he'd come back. If he'd ever come back. You hadn't seen him in so long except for the picture in your locket and the painting that Charlie made for you. You hadn't seen anyone for years now and you wondered if you were destined to be alone, without them and this would be the rest of your life. Charlie picked up on your change in mood and wrapped you in a hug.

"What's this for?" You asked

"Because I know you need it. He'll be back (Y/N). If he spent 45 years trying to get back to you then nothing is going to stop him from doing it again." Charlie comforts

You pull back from the hug and look at your friend. Nodding your head you tell him,

"You're right."

"Of course I am!" He exclaims

"Oh shut up!" You reply playfully as you smack his arm

"Ow." He sarcastically replies

"(Y/N)" you hear your name called from across the room

"Oh yes, Marie?" you reply

"Sir Hargreeves requests your presence downstairs. The car is ready for your departure." Marie states

"Thank you, Marie. You're dismissed." You say

With that Marie walks off and you are left with Charlie once more. He turns to you and extends his arm jokingly asking,

"Shall I escort you downstairs?"

"Oh, it would be a pleasure." You reply in the same tone

Taking Charlie's arm the two of you walk out of your room and towards the main staircase. As the two of you head down the stairs you can hear your mom exclaim,

"Oh (Y/N), you look so beautiful!"

As you reach the bottom of the stairs you look at your mom and say,

"Thank you."

"Yes, you look very formal (Y/N), but we must get going," Reginald adds

The four of you walk out to where Charlie and Reginald's cars are located. You look over at your mom and Reginald saying,

"Alright well, I'll ride with Charlie and-"

"No," Reginald interrupts "You, your mother, and I will arrive together as a unit." 

You give Charlie a look before saying,

"I guess you're alone for this one Charlie."

"Well alright. I'll meet you there." 

Charlie and you get in your respective vehicles before driving off to where the consulate is. The ride in the car is quiet as Grace and Reggie chatter amongst themselves. When you arrive at the consulate the chauffeur opens the door to the car allowing you to step out followed by your mom and Reggie. You put a smile on your face as the three of you walk to the door of the consulate as a "unit". You walk slightly ahead so that your mom and Reggie are standing together behind you. As you enter the building a voice calls,

"Reginald! So wonderful you could make it,"

"Of course Hoyt, it's an honor," Reginald replies courteously

"You have such a lovely family Reginald, and your daughter gets prettier every time I see her." Hoyt compliments

You knew he probably meant well but god did you want to puke at his comment. It wasn't the pretty part that bothered you, quite the opposite you were flattered by it, but being referred to as Reginald's daughter and family was enough to make you sick. You forced yourself to keep a smile on your face and nod politely.

"Actually (Y/N), have you met my son Halvdan?" Hoyt asks as he waves his son over

You had met him before and he was not the type of person you'd want to be around. All he saw you as was someone who could become a good housewife, but you had more to offer than that. Anyway, you had Five, and even if you didn't ye was self-centered and thought he was hot shit when in reality he was just a piece of shit. You deserved better. Being polite you comment,

"I believe we've met before."

"Well, my son is available right now and-"

"Hey (Y/N) want to get some seafood?!" A voice says as they grab your wrist

You recognized the voice instantly and rapidly exclaim,

"Oh sure, Charlie!"

Charlie then quickly drags you away across the consulate towards the seafood tower. As he does so he says,

"You looked like you wanted to die,"

"I did. Thank you for rescuing me from _ANOTHER_ relationship sales pitch." You reply

"Unfortunately there's not a lot of upper-class mindless drone women like they prefer so they end up pitching to you, someone who has a brain."

"It is what it is." You say waving off what had happened "Now, let's go raid that seafood tower."

As you and Charlie made your way over to stuff your faces with shrimp and crab cakes, outside Five, Diego and Lila had just arrived at the consulate. Carefully, hopping over a wall the three of them hide behind a car as Diego looks to see if the coast is clear.

"So, what's the plan?" Lila asks

"We infiltrate, we identify, we extract. Double time." Diego responds

"What the hell's he talking about?" Lila asks Five

"Find the old man and get out fast." Five explains

"That's what I said." Diego states

Diego then quickly makes his way forward and crouches behind another car that is closer to the consulate building. Turning to Five, Lila offers,

"After you."

Five refuses to move though and gives her a stern look prompting Lila to ask,

"What, I can't be polite?"

"Cut the crap. All right? My dimwitted brother might buy your bullshit, but I don't trust you for a second." Five rebukes

"O ye of little faith." Lila comments

"Stick it up your ass." Five says with a fake smile

Lila shakes her head in disbelief before making her way over to Diego behind the next car. Five follows suit and when the coast is clear the three of them run towards the side of the building to sneak in through a different door. Entering through the side door Five grabs a glass of champagne and looks around for his dad. There's plenty of people chattering about the consulate but so far there was no sight of him. 

"I don't see Dad anywhere," Diego says stating the obvious

"Just keep an eye out for the Majestic Twelve. I got the upstairs." Five replies before commenting to his brother "Diego, try not to do anything too stupid."

With that Five walks away and sneaks to the upstairs part of the consulate while Lila drags Diego to go dance. As Five gets upstairs he sees hears a chattering of people and hides behind a thick doorframe. He watches as a group of twelve men walk past and head into a different room. It was them, The Majestic 12. Five waits until they're all out of sight and the door to the room they entered closes. Five takes a second to himself as he was nervous about seeing his father again but the need to stop the apocalypse outweighed his fear. Readying himself, Five spatial jumped out of the hall and into the closet of the room they were in. You on the other hand were proudly stuffing your face with seafood with the only person you'd be willing to talk to, Charlie.

"I don't get why seafood can't be more accessible to the general public. This stuff is so good." You say as you hold up a clam

"Yeah, the prices of seafood should be a crime," Charlie replies with a mouth full of crab cake. 

"You know what this needs though?" You say

"Alcohol?" Charlie questions shoving another crab cake in his mouth

"You need to calm down with those, but yes alcohol." You answer "But how am I going to get any? Mom and Reggie don't let me drink."

"I can drink because my dad doesn't care about me."

"Charlie, I know but this is about _me_ getting alcohol."

Charlie swallows his food and then goes silent for a second. He nods his head before suggesting,

"I have an idea. I've been here before with my dad, so I know there's a bunch of rooms far down the hall upstairs that we can go to. I'll grab the alcohol and sneak to the room upstairs. You just need to distract your mom while I do since she's standing right by them. Then you can turn yourself invisible and just head up to find me."

"You know what, that's a really good plan." You say nodding your head "Alright, I'm going to go talk to my mom, you grab the drinks."

Charlie nods his head and the two of you split up. You head over to your mom standing right by the stairs. 

"Hi, mom!" You say

"Oh, hello sweetie. You having a good time with Charlie?" She asks

"Yeah, great time the seafood tower is great!"

"Well, that's nice. Where is he though?" Your mom asks looking around. 

You can see Charlie peeking behind a door frame trying to hide from your mom's view. Pulling your mom's attention back to you, you blurt,

"Oh uh, he went to ask for more crab cakes. He ate them all."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"Oh my, he must be hungry. But I thought y'all went to lunch?" your mom comments

"We did but uh I guess he just has a fast metabolism." You reply

As you continue to talk to your mom, you watch Charlie carefully sneaks behind her and up the stairs. When he's safely out of sight you calm down. From across the consulate though Diego's heart started to race. Between the moving crowd of people, he sees what he thinks is you and mom. 

"It can't be." He says as he slowly makes his way over

As he approaches you tell your mom,

"Well, I better go find Charlie."

And with that, you quickly disappear from her view and then make yourself invisible heading upstairs to where Charlie would be. When you made it to the top floor you walked lightly down the hall but as you did so something felt off. You felt the remnants of a minor disturbance but why? You shook your head. It didn't matter, what did matter was the alcohol that Charlie had stolen. You entered the room with the door open and shut it behind you. When you turn to look at Charlie you saw your friend eating a large platter of crab cakes. 

"Charlie."

"Yeah?" He questioned mid-bite

"I told you to go easy on those. How did you get a whole platter?" You exclaim confused

"One of the waiters gave it to me," Charlie responds

"Did he specifically give you the plate or was he offering you to take one and you took the whole thing?" You slowly ask as you stare at him

Charlie stares back at you, not responding to the question. 

"Charlie!"

"What! My dad is allergic to shellfish, these parties are all I have!" Charlie exclaims

You pinch the bridge of your nose and let out a sigh. Shaking your head you say,

"You're unbelievable. What am I going to do with you?"

"Appreciate me because you have no one else." He retorts jokingly

"You are so mean!" You joke back "Now where is the alcohol?"

"It's over here." He replies gesturing to the left of him

You walk past him and see two glasses of champagne sitting on the table. 

"Huh, I wonder why I couldn't see it? It couldn't be because of a big ass platter in the way, now could it?" You remark sarcastically

"Nah, no way." 

Picking a glass up you take a sip from it, happy that for once you could just have a little more fun and loosen up at a party. Unbeknownst to you, Five was down the hall not having any fun. Looking through the shutters of the coat closet he listened in to the conversation the majestic 12 were having. A man in a hat and sunglasses spoke saying,

"The president is continuing to make inquiries into Roswell and the other crash sites, gentlemen. And, as you know, we cannot allow him to get his nose into our business. I've confirmed the motorcade will indeed be turning left on Elm Street. We'll have our people in place."

Five could see a man polishing a monocle. As he placed it upon his face he commented,

"Gentlemen, this plan of yours seems ill-timed."

"It's going to be a turkey shoot." Another man replied

Five gently moved to get a better view of what was going on causing a slight clatter of some hangers. Not enough to be noticed and yet Reginald noticed anyway. As he turned to look at the closet Five took a glimpse at his father's face for the first time in years.

"Dad?" Five questioned inaudibly

The crowd of men quieted as Reginald grabbed a fire poker. Slowly he approached the closet where Five was in and although he couldn't see Five they were eye to eye for the first time in 45 years. Five backed away as Reginald started to raise the fire poker and before Reginald could stab him like he did to his brother, Five spacial jumped out of the room leaving only an empty closet. When he's back in the hall he readjusts his jacket and exhales sharply as he turns around to try and hide in a room he spots a tall, blond man. It was one of the Swedes. 

"Shit." Five says under his breath

The man grabs Five by his jacket and slams him against one of the walls of the hallway then throwing him into the other. Five spatial jumps though and reemerged behind the man. Kicking the back of his knee in the swede falls to the ground giving Five the opportunity to jump on his back and grab his neck. Five attempts to snap it but being attacked so suddenly had thrown him off his rhythm and he struggled to break it. The swede then brings his arms back grabbing Five and throwing him on the floor. The swede then pins Five down and raises his arm to punch him but Five flashes away once more. The swede stands up and turns around to Five who is attempting to use his abilities but to no use. He was too tired and ran out of the energy to do so. Unable to get out of the corner the swede cornered him and started to beat him up. Diego came running up the stairs after hearing some commotion and saw his brother in trouble. He was about to head over to help him when someone came behind him and started to choke him with a belt. The sound of banging against the wall was loud and many people both downstairs and upstairs were getting concerned. You and Charlie included.

"What is that?" Charlie asked

"I don't know." You replied quietly 

Cautiously, you made your way over to the door of the room you were in, and using your powers you made your head invisible and phased it through the door. You couldn't see the faces of anyone but people in waiter uniforms were attacking other people in the hallway. Pulling your head back in quick you whipped around to Charlie.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a whole bunch of men dressed as waiters attacking some other people who must be from the party." You explain

"Do you think they could be soviet spies?" Charlie questions

"This is an event full of influential people so maybe but I don't really know." You answer

"We need to get out of here." Charlie states firmly "But they're blocking the way to the staircase."

You look around the room and notice the window on the sidewall. Rushing over you open it before turning to your friend and saying, 

"You first." 

"I'm not jumping from a second-story window!" Charlie exclaims

"I'm going to use my powers to lower you safely but you need to slide out the window first." You tell him

Charlie looks at you quietly and you look back. Urgency and sincerity covered your expression. Charlie takes a deep breath and nods his head before quietly saying,

"Okay."

He walks over to the open window and sits down on the ledge. Gently, you place your hands on his back and start to focus on making him lighter before slowly bringing his density back to normal. You watch as your friend carefully floats on down to the ground and lands safely on his feet. Turning around Charlie looks up at you and shouts,

"Okay, your turn! I'll catch you!"

You hear the sound of banging against the walls and glass shattering. People were going to get hurt if someone didn't stop them. You looked to the right at the door leading to the hallway. Charlie looked up at you knowing full well what was going on in your mind.

"Don't do it!" He shouts

You look back at your friend and give him a sorry expression.

"I'm sorry, Charlie." You state

You start to close the window and as you do you can hear him yell,

"(Y/N) NO!"

You slam the window shut and the last thing you see of Charlie is his eyes wide and full of panic. It hurt you to hurt your friend but you were the only one capable of fighting these guys. You quickly made yourself invisible and took a deep breath before phasing through the door and into the hallway. When you entered the hallway you saw two men in waiters' attire getting themselves off of the floor. You didn't see the people who they were fighting anymore but you still could hear the commotion and distress going on downstairs. You watched as the two of them turned to head that way but you couldn't let them get to innocent people. Grabbing their attention you yelled,

"HEY!"

The two turned around to the sound and you revealed yourself. They look at each other before looking at you.

"You came to this party boys, so let's fucking dance."

The two of them make their way towards you but your mom didn't raise a quitter. All three of them. Teleporting yourself closer you deck one of them right in the face before phasing through him. Turning yourself around you hear the guy you didn't punch say,

"Hon är en av dem."

You tilted your head to the side confused. That wasn't Russian, it was Swedish. What confused you more though was what they said. She's one of them? What did they mean one of them? While you were distracted though the shorter one of the two managed to grab you from behind and lifted you off the ground. 

"Alright, I'm done playing," you state

Using your powers you set the sleeves of the man holding you on fire. Quickly, he lets you go and you kick him in the gut, sending him away. Turning around to deal with the other one you go into combat mode and start punching and kicking him while making your legs and fists denser to deal more damage. The taller one recoils back and as he does you see a knife stuck in the wall. You summon it to your hand and watch the man in front of you attempt to swing a punch. His punch goes right through you though and when he pulls back, with a smirk, you comment,

"Yeah, that's not gonna work buddy."

You stab the knife into his shoulder causing him to lurch in pain. Grabbing him by the jacket you pull him around you and push him into his accomplice he was making his way back to you. Using your powers you force the two of them out a nearby broken window and they fall to the ground. Looking down at them you couldn't tell if they were unconscious or dead but they weren't moving and that's what mattered. You took a look at yourself in the broken glass and beamed with pride not only because you defeated those two menacing swedes but also you didn't get covered in blood this time. Your pure white dress and shoes were surprisingly still pure white. And thank goodness because your mom would flip out if it wasn't. But then it hit you.

"Oh my god. Mom!"

After you had left him, Charlie had made a quick dash to find anyone he knew could help and ran to the front of the building where many people were hurriedly leaving. As he looked around he could hear the cries of a woman in distress calling out,

"We can't leave without her Reggie! Where is she!?"

Grace.

Charlie ran over to them and as he approached Reginald urgently asked,

"Charlie, where is (Y/N)?"

Even though he knew you could handle yourself, Charlie still was concerned for you. But he knew that if he was completely honest about what was happening you would never be able to go anywhere again.

"I don't know we got separated in the chaos. I'm going to go back and look for her." Charlie stated

"Alright you go find her and we'll wait here." Grace states

Charlie thought for a second. If you were fighting the intruders then there was a chance you could get injured or at least have blood on your clothing and if that happened and they saw you it would be the same result as if he had told the truth a few moments ago. Thinking on the fly he said,

"No, you two need to leave, especially you Sir Reginald. Whoever these people are they're probably here for high-level people such as yourself. You get yourself and Grace to the backup location and I'll take (Y/N) to a safe place across town."

"You're right." Reginald stated before turning to Grace "We need to go."

"I'm not leaving without my daughter." Grace demands

"Grace your daughter is the most intelligent and capable girl I know. I'm sure she's fine but I'm going to find her and get her to safety. I'll even have her call so you know she's alright." Charlie gently explained "But for now you need to go. You don't want your daughter motherless again."

Although Grace was still distressed, Charlie's point about (Y/N) not having her as a mother was enough to convince her. Grace looks around one more time before getting into the car. Charlie starts to turn to leave but as he does Reginald catches his arm. 

"(Y/N) is important to Grace and she is a valuable asset so you must make sure she is safe. If there is even a scratch on her, I will have your head." He states firmly

"Yes sir," Charlie replies quickly

The two stare at each other for a second before Reginald lets go of Charlie's arm. With that Charlie runs towards the back of the building to find an entrance. As Charlie ran to the back of the consulate, Five had rushed to the front. Seeing his father starting to get into the back of his car Five shouts the beginning of the Oddessey in Ancient Greek.

Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ."

Reginald stopped and stared at the unknown boy who had yelled at him in Ancient Greek and Five stared back. There were no words said and no movements made until Grace called for Reginald to join her in the car, and without another moment Reginald got in the car and left. As the car drove away Diego appeared behind Five and along with Lila. 

"Was that him?" Diego asked

"Yeah." Five said defeated

After your realization that those you cared about could still be in trouble, you ran down the stairs and out the front of the building. Frantically you looked around calling out,

"Mom! Charlie! Mom! Charlie!"

As you yelled those names it caught the attention of Diego and Five and the two of them whipped their heads to look in your direction. You continued to look around frantically as you called out the names of the people you cared about but when you looked to your right you had to do a double-take. Looking back over you stopped yelling and froze in place.

"Five," you said softly

Was that really him? Was he there before you or was this another trick of your imagination? If it was a trick, it was the most vivid one yet. Maybe it was the alcohol and chaos messing up your mind and searching for comfort because he couldn't be real. Could he? He looked the exact same as the last time you saw him in that dumb uniform. Were all your years of waiting over? As you looked his features up and down you noticed a second figure to the side of him. It took a moment to recognize who it was but behind that long mop and facial hair was your older brother, Diego. This had to be real, you hoped it was because it had been so long the two guys who you loved most were here in front of you. As you looked at them in disbelief, they looked back in awe. Five's heart swelled seeing you again. A weight fell off his shoulders finally knowing that you weren't missing. You were alive and you were okay. Love filled his eyes as he took in every bit of you. It had only been a few days but it felt like an eternity. You looked beautiful in your dress, almost ethereal, to the point where Five didn't know if this was real. He looked at you standing across the lot and yet it felt like you were miles apart. He wanted to say something, to shout to you about how much he missed you and loved you and how he was so sorry for abandoning you in time again but no words would come out. You truly rendered him speechless. 

As for Diego, it was bittersweet. He was happy to see you alive and well but seeing you look so grown up, made him feel like he missed out on so much when he was being forced to live in that insane asylum for the time he was here. It pained him that he had lost you and left you alone. He had no clue what you had been through and he hoped that you had been safe and happy this whole time but still it warmed his heart to see his little princess once more.

As you continued to look at them you could feel your leg start to move forward, your body readying itself to run into their arms but before you could even take a step a hand grabs your wrist and turns you around. Pulled out of your trance you look at the person in front of you and see a very panicked Charlie.

"(Y/N) we need to go!"

You look back to where Five and Diego are as you stutter out,

"B- but-"

"(Y/N) the only ''but'' is mine because Reginald is going to have my ass if I don't get you to safety. We need to go." Charlie explains

You continue to look back, your feet not moving with any sense of urgency. Charlie had no clue what had gotten into you but it was imperative that you and him left _now_. Pulling you behind him, Charlie practically dragged you over to his car, sitting you down in the passenger seat before running to the driver's side and speeding away from the consulate. The whole time you looked back at Diego and Five and watched at the started to get further and further away. When they were no longer in sight you slowly turned around to face front. As Charlie drove back to the main part of Dallas you looked straight ahead at the road and said,

"Hey, Charlie."

"Yeah?" He questioned

"You were right. This was the most interesting party I've gone to."

Diego and Five stood frozen as you faded off into the distance, their eyes trained on the road ahead watching the tail lights of the car until they could no longer be seen. 

"Was that?" Diego question trying to make sure he wasn't insane

"Yeah." Five answered

Lila looked on at the two boys frozen in place confused. She didn't know why that girl had them so starstruck but this was not the time to stand by idly. Frustrated with the two of them Lila exclaims

"Guys I don't know what's gotten into you two but we need to get a move on. That girl doesn't matter!"

Five and Diego slowly turn to look at Lila. Anger and disgust spread across their faces as an aura of contempt began to loom through the air. The November night air was already cold but to Lila, it felt like it dropped ten degrees with the cold looks she was being given.

"What?" Lila questioned before coming to a realization "That's the girl you two care so much about isn't it?"

"That's none of your business." Five snaps

"Aw don't worry we'll leave here right now to go and find her," Lila comments as she starts to walk away

"When you say _we'll,_ who exactly are you referring to?" Five questions harshly  
  
"Not a lot of ambiguity in that sentence," Lila replies confused, turning back to look at him

Five takes a step closer to her and narrows his eyes. Whoever this girl as he didn't want her around much longer, especially with you in the picture now.  
  
"Listen, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but whatever it is, I'd advise you return posthaste." Five commands  
  
Diego steps towards his brother and places a hand on his shoulder commenting,  
  
"She's right, Five. We gotta get outta here."  
  
"Yeah, and I just saved your life, you kinder-shit! If I hadn't stepped in, all that would be left of you is a blazer and some bloody socks." Lila ridicules  
  
"And that's the problem. You're too good. You ask too many questions. You know too much. And you fight like you know what you're doing." Five retorts angrily  
  
"He's got a point," Diego adds

"So I know how to handle myself, and that makes me the bad guy?" Lila asks upset

Five takes another step towards Lila and with a vile look on his face, he locks eyes with her. If there was one message he was going to get across it was this.   
  
"Whoever you are, you're in my way. If I see you again, I will kill you." He threatens

With that Five walks off and starts to head back to the apartment thinking about where you were and how he was going to find you. You on the other hand had made it to the safe place you would be staying for the night. It was a tiny apartment on the far side of Dallas that was used as a safe place in emergency cases like this. Finding the key that was hidden in the mailbox you and Charlie head upstairs. Opening the door to the place you kick off your shoes, take down your hair, and flop back on the bed. Charlie shuts the door behind him, throwing off his jacket and tie before turning to you. 

"You going to tell me what happened back there?"

"What do you mean?" You ask, sitting up to look at him.

"(Y/N), you froze. You've never freeze with danger around." Charlie explains

"It was nothing. Well, it was something. I don't know. Maybe I'm drunk off one drink or I'm losing my mind." You rant, throwing your head into your hands

You were distressed. These last three days had been the most chaotic you had experience since the world ended and you were sent to this timeline. You couldn't grasp why. Why now? Were you losing your mind? Were you becoming so obsessed with your equation that your brain was becoming desperate for some confirmation they were out there? You could feel yourself getting choked up and your body started to shake as you tried to force back your emotions. You just wanted things to feel normal again. It made Charlie sad to see you so upset. He had never seen you so distressed before, mainly because he was the one who had a tendency to get stressed out. Charlie sat next to you on the bed and wrapped an arm around your shoulders letting you rest your head on his. Even though you tried to hold them back Charlie could hear as you started to choke out quiet sobs.

"(Y/N), it's going to be okay." Charlie tried to comfort

"I think I'm going insane Charlie..." You quietly admitted

"(Y/N) everything about you is insane." Charlie comments

"Wow okay." You replied with a small laugh

"You didn't let me finish. Everything about you is insane but as your friend, I'm here for all the insanity. What can I do to help make this better?" Charlie asks

"I think I need to go back to the alley," you answer quietly

"(Y/N) we've been to the alley so many times..." Charlie says

"I know, I know. But this time is different. I'm not looking for answers, I'm looking for closure." You reply

"(Y/N) I know it's been years but you shouldn't give up."

"No, I'm not giving up. I still believe they're out there but if I keep torturing myself like this I'm going to actually go insane. I'm never going to fully live in the present if I keep clinging to the past."

"I think you mean future."

"Oh shut up Charlie," You say playfully smacking his arm before looking up at him "Will you take me one more time?"

Charlie looks at you for a bit before nodding his head. Standing up he grabs his car keys from his jacket pocket and heads towards the door motioning for you to follow him. You put your shoes on and follow him out the door to his car. As the two of you get into the car Charlie comments,

"You owe me one fact about the future for this."

"Yeah, alright buddy," you retort

It didn't take long to get to the alleyway. When you did, both you and Charlie stepped out of the vehicle. You had been here so many times before that you had a routine. You would enter the alleyway alone and Charlie would stand out of sight around the corner. Slowly, you walked yourself to the middle of the alley and looked around. The stars shined brightly above you and the city streets were all but dead at this point. There was no one in the alley but you and the moon above. You took a deep breath and closed your eyes as you took a second to compose yourself. Letting the breath out you looked into the empty alley and start to speak,

"Dear Universe, I've come to this alley looking for answers, for the people I love, with the hope that one of the times they'd be here. That my brother Diego would stand before me, the other Hargreeves or my beloved Five would appear in front of my eyes and my problems would go away but that's not what you've intended for me and I'm starting to realize that. I'm not going to stop hoping they're out there but I can't let this control my life."

As you were speaking your closure into existence outside, Five was inside Elliott's apartment pacing about trying to figure out where in the city you could be. He had only arrived back with Diego a few minutes ago and while Diego dealt with a giggly Luther and Elliott who were high off of laughing gas Five was taking every precious second to find you. His only lead was the consulate though and he had no clue what would lead you to be there. Five paced more aggressively as he ran his fingers through his hair trying to get his brain to think, to give him any clue he could lead to you. Whipping towards the window he slammed his hands down on the desk in frustration. Where could you be? He lowered his head with his eyes closed. 

"Where are you ma chérie?" He whispered before begging "please come back to me..."

As Five lifted his head back up he looked out the window down at the alley and...there you were. He didn't know if he was hallucinating out of his pain the same way he had with imaginary you in the apocalypse but there no way he was going to risk it. Quickly, he. ran out of the apartment and down the stairs to get to you. As he did so you finished up your speech and started to turn to walk away. You had said your peace and had to move on but you couldn't leave yet. As you faced towards the street you said into the night air,

"I love you, Five."

With that, you started to walk away but as you did so Five flashed through the door leading to the alley. You felt a chill of a familiar molecular disturbance run down your spine and you stopped dead in your tracks. Slowly, you turned your head to look behind you and see what was there. What you were met with was a beautiful pair of blue eyes looking back at you.

"I love you too, (Y/N)" Five said back

You turned on your heel to look at him and immediately after he flashed towards you. You reached up and held his face in your hands, looking in his eyes as you felt the warmth of his skin against yours. He copied your movements and held your face in his hands taking in every little detail of it. You were so beautiful. The two of you stared silently at each other but in a second's time, you had pulled each other close slamming your lips together and getting rid of any space between you. The world faded away and all that was left was the passionate love between the two of you. No words needed to be said because the emotion in the kiss said it all. You missed each other, you needed each other, and now you were back together with the person you loved most, and that's all that mattered.


	33. A Family Reunion

Gently you and Five parted from your kiss as you finally took in air again. Dropping your hands from his face you wrapped your arms around his neck and nuzzled your forehead against his. You hadn't opened your eyes yet as you were taking in every bit of this moment. As you did so Five lowered his hands from your face and wrapped his arms around your waist quickly pulling you closer to him.

"Oh!" You let out, surprised at the sudden action

"Didn't mean to scare you there." Five comments as he holds you tightly

He had missed you so much. It had only been about three days but all that time was filled with the worry of if you even existed in this timeline, where you could've been, and if you still loved him after tearing you from the life you re-built. He heard you say it, that you love him, and he felt it in the kiss you just shared but he didn't understand how you could love him after he threw you into time alone, again. Five pressed his forehead back against yours as he tries to just appreciate the solace of having you here with him. As you held your boyfriend for the first time in years you could feel something was off. Pulling your head back, you look at Five. He looks back at you and you can see that something was going on behind his eyes. Gently you stroke his hair as you quietly ask,

"What's going on in that head of yours?"

Five looked at you, your head tilted slightly as your eyes searched his face for some type of answer. He melted at the feeling of you running your fingers through his hair and across the back of his neck. Five closed his eyes and rested his forehead against yours once more. His voice barely a whisper as he said

"I promised no apocalypse and no time travel and I left you in time again. Alone. I just...are you mad at me?"

"I could never be mad at you, I missed you so much." You replied gently

A smile crept to Five's face and a weight fell off his shoulders knowing that you weren't upset with him, but your response also amused him. It was the exact same response he had given you when he returned to the future. It was what he said to ease your worry that he was mad at you all those years ago when he left and got stuck in the apocalypse. Five tilted his head up and places a light kiss on your forehead before replying,

"I missed you too ma chérie."

As the two of you stood embraced under the night sky a voice came from down the alleyway calling,

"Hey (Y/N), you okay? You stopped talking to the universe."

You and Five both turn to look at where the voice came from and you see Charlie standing at the entrance to the alley.

"Oh Charlie, I forgot you were here." You comment

"FORGOT?! What do you mean _forgot_? Do I matter that little to you?" Charlie exclaims before quickly adding "Don't answer that."

Charlie makes his way over to where you are with Five. Leaving the embrace you grab Five's hand to hold as you gesture with the other one to your friend.

"Charlie, this is my boyfriend Five and Five, this is my friend Charlie." You explain "He's the one who kept me sane while I was stuck in this time."

"That's a pretty bold claim saying I kept you sane..." Charlie states before extending his hand out and exclaiming "But wow! It's great to finally meet you. She never shuts up about you."

"Charlie!" You say using your freehand to hit his arm "Don't make me mute you."

" _DoN'T MakE mE mUte YoU_ " Charlie mocks

With his free hand, Five takes Charlie's and shakes it. A full smile appears on his face as he comments,

"I see she's rubbed off on you."

"Not entirely, but definitely too much." Charlie jokes

"Wow, okay." You say sarcastically

Charlie and Five stop shaking hands and Five let go of yours using that arm to wrap around your waist and pull you into his side. Five looks down and you before back to Charlie and says,

"Thank you for taking care of her while I was gone."

"Thank you for coming back and taking over," Charlie jokes before stating "I'm joking, she's the only friend I've ever had so it's been a great experience so far."

"Never a dull day." You add

"I bet." Five replies

As the three of you stand in the alley, Five catches something move out of his peripheral and looks up to see Diego passing by one of the windows. He doesn't notice any of you down in the alleyway though so, a thought comes to Five's mind. As much as he hated the way his brother had been treating him lately, he knew that his brother loved you too. And Diego definitely loved you more than him. Turning to you, Five comments,

"It's getting a bit chilly out here, why don't we head inside. Anyway, I think there's someone else who wants to see you too."

Five then tilts his head to gesture up to the window where Diego is and you turn your head to look. It was your brother. The smile that you had at being reunited with Five widened as you saw your older brother above you. You turn back to Five excited and Five says,

"Let's go. You too Charlie."

Charlie smiles excitedly and the three of you walk inside and start to head up the staircase. As you do so, Five quietly details a plan to surprise Diego. When you approached the door to the apartment you waited quietly with Charlie outside. Five entered alone and as he did Diego asked him,

"Where did you go?"

"Outside. I needed some air and I had a nice chat." Five replies bluntly

Five then closes the door which is your signal and you go invisible and phase yourself through the wall and quietly walk behind where Diego stood. The anticipation rushed through you and you wanted to just run and hug your brother but you know this would mean so much more.

"You had a chat?" Diego questioned, "With who?"

"With me." You said

Diego turned around to look at where the voice came from and when he did you revealed yourself. You looked up at him with a smile on your face. You can see Diego's face go through a series of emotions as he tries to process the sight of you before him. Shifting from shock to confusion to awe he looks on at his little sister before him. You can see him get misty-eyed as he slowly approaches you.

"(Y- (Y/N)?" He asks voice wavering

"Hi Eggo."

Diego quietly takes a few steps over to you before wrapping you in a tight hug. You could hear sniffles coming from him as he held you.

"Eggo are you crying?"

"What? No...I- it's just d-dust" Diego obviously lies

You looked towards Five and rolled your eyes at Diego's response as you hugged him tighter. You knew that your brother had missed you too and even if he was trying to act tough his true colors always showed through. As you held him a knock came from the door. Diego quickly lets go of you and pulls out a knife. A voice calls,

"Can I come in now?"

Diego poises himself ready to throw but you lower his arm. As he looks at you confused you open the door and let Charlie inside.

"Hi, I'm Charlie," Charlie says extending his hand again

Diego looks on at him confused before slowly taking his hand to shake it and replying,

"Uh...Diego."

As you all stand there looking at each other you can feel the tiredness of your feet from standing in heels so long. Looking over towards the living room you see some couches and decide to sit down. As you walk over there the others follow.

"Som how long have you guys been here?" You question

"Three days." Five replies

"About eighty for me," Diego adds

Diego and Five walk over to the couch across from the two sofa chairs as you sit down on one of them. As Charlie takes the other one Diego asks you,

"So how long have you been here?"

You look off to the side. You knew the number of days but actually realizing how long it had been...You were taken aback a little. You look towards them and bring your eyes to meet their gazes. Taking a small breath you quietly respond,

"one thousand, four hundred and eighteen days..."

Their jaws drop and they simultaneously sit down on the couch across from you. No words are said as they stare at you. Five could barely find words to say as his mind was racing too fast calculating the amount of time. Figuring out the amount, Five's eyes went wide with concern.

"(Y/N)...that's..." Five tries to get out

"Three years, ten months, and eighteen days." You state

"Holy shit," Diego says slumping back into the couch

Five's heart dropped and the weight that he thought had left his shoulders came crashing back in full force. You were here for almost four years? He left you for years on end...again? Five looked down at the floor ashamed, he couldn't dare to look you in the eyes right now. He cursed at himself internally for making the exact same mistake that he did the first time but more so he promised himself to keep you safe and he failed. Even if you had already said you weren't mad for what happened and had forgiven him, Five couldn't forgive himself. He needed to make this up to you. He needed to get you home. As he struggled to cope with what he had done Diego asked,

"So how old are you now then?"

"I turned 22 on October 1st, 1963." You reply

"Which is funny because if you were born in 1989 then technically you're also negative 26 right now." Charlie chimes in

"Yes, I am 33, 22, and negative 26 all at the same time." You reply

"Weirdo." Charlie jabs

"Thank you."

"How does he know that? Your actual birthday." Diego questions

"Well, I ended up mentioning some things about the future to him. I was here for almost four years." You explain

"Which don't forget, you still owe me another fact about it." Charlie reminds

"Yeah, yeah you'll get it in time buckaroo." You wave off

"Wait, so I missed four of your birthdays?" Diego complains

Diego was upset with himself that he wasn't there for you when he should've been. Sensing his change in emotion you try to cheer him up by commenting,

"I'm sure you were doing something really important though!"

You watch as Diego's demeanor rapidly changes. Quickly he sits up from leaning back on the couch and looks towards you with a fire in his eyes. He must be passionate about something then. Leaning over the coffee table he looks between you and Charlie before proudly saying,

"I'm going to save President John F. Kennedy."

"JFK needs to be saved?" Charlie questions concerned

He's going to what? Save JFK? He had to be joking. You knew your brother still suffered from a hero complex but had it really gotten this bad after the apocalypse?

"Diego, you're joking, right? JFK's death is a part of history, you can't just change that!"

"JFK dies?!" Charlie exclaims shooting up from his chair

"Listen (Y/N), I know I can do it. I can save him."

"Get your head out of your ass Diego, he's supposed to get assassinated." Five adds snapping out of his trance

"HE GETS ASSASSINATED?!" Charlie yells "(Y/N) is this true?!"

You finally look over to your frantic friend, there was no way to put this lightly. A grimace appeared on your face as you pointed sad finger guns in Charlie's direction. Weakly you answer,

"...that's your fact from the future buddy..."

"NOOOOO!" Charlie yells before plopping back in his seat and mumbling "But I like JFK..."

You lean over and awkwardly pat your friend's back trying to comfort him. This was going to take some time for him though. As you tried your best to help Charlie, Diego and Five bickered over the plan to save JFK.

"You stay out of this Five. This is between me and my sister. I'm going to save the president, (Y/N) do you want in?"

"Diego, I love you but this plan is irrational."

"Thank you! Finally someone with a sense of reason!" Five exclaims "It's this behavior that got him thrown into a psych ward!"

"You were in a psych ward?" You ask

Diego tries to stutter out a reply to you but before he could say anything Five adds,

"Not only was he in a psych ward but he also decided to get with some overly suspicious crazy lady he met a few days ago in the psych ward."

Get with? What did Five mean get with? You really hoped it wasn't the meaning of "get with" that you were accustomed to. You could feel your blood boil a bit but you try to calm yourself down. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding. In a firm but steady voice, you ask,

"What do you mean **_get with_**?"

Five looks you dead in the eyes and in the most serious tone he deadpans his response,

"I mean exactly what you think I mean."

Your jaw drops and you look down at the ground in disbelief. You said no words but your face told the story of how you were feeling at this revelation. Anger, hurt, and disgust flooded your system because you could believe your brother's actions. Eighty days. He could get over a woman he loved for almost a decade in eighty days with some stranger he only met a few days ago. Wow. You whip your head to look at Diego and if looks could kill then he would already be dead with the one you were giving him.

"Did you forget Eudora?" You spat

"What?" Diego asks

"Have you an ounce of regret?" you chastise

Five and Charlie exchange a look with each other as they watch you yell angrily at your beloved brother, both knowing the reason why you would be so angered.

"(Y/N), I can explain-" Diego tries to start

You stand up from your seat and look down at your older brother. Your fists clenched tightly as you reprimanded him,

"Eighty days, huh? That's all it took to get over Eudora? You meet one psychotic harlot and that's it, no more Eudora?"

"I-" Diego tries to interject

"I what, Diego?" You rebuke

You took deep breaths to calm yourself but it was to no use. You began to shake as emotion overtook you. Tiny electric sparks started to fly off of you as your emotional buildup starts to seep out through your powers. Your voice wavered as you continued,

"I have been here for almost four years and I'm still not over her death. I loved her for five years. You loved her for over ten! You went on a tirade to get revenge for her death and yet you sit here now completely fine with throwing her away as if she was no one."

Charlie and Five look on at the scene before them but say no words. They both knew this was not something they should intervene in. Diego looks at you with a sorrowful look, water starting to well in his eyes mirroring yours. He opens his mouth but makes no sound. Summoning a knife you point it at your brother, your hand shaking vigorously as you hold it.

"I should kill you so you can confront her yourself and tell her what you've done." You choke out

You continue to point the knife in Diego's direction as you look him in the eye. You stare at him for a bit but then turn your head to look away from him. Stabbing your knife into the coffee table below you quietly say,

"I'm not going to though. I want you to live with the guilt of desecrating her memory."

You couldn't stand to look at your brother right now. You were disgusted at his actions. Walking away from the three of them you hear Diego stutter from behind,

"We-well if you're going to be m-m-mad at me then be m-mad at Five too."

You turn around and look back at the two Hargreeves boys.

"Oh really? Why is that?" You question harshly

"G-go on, t-tell her."

Five looks at you. He knew you were already upset, he didn't want to make it worse with the news that the apocalypse was happening again. You crossed your arms as sparks continued to fly off of you. Tilting your head slightly, you gave him a look as if to say "go on". Five knew that he had to tell you at some point so he might as well get it over with now. Carefully, he broached the topic, calmly stating,

"The apocalypse followed us here and we have six days to stop it."

The room was silent as you stared blankly at your brother and Five.

"What the fuck!" Charlie exclaims breaking the silence

"Couldn't have put it better myself." You reply bluntly

"(Y/N)-" Five tries to start

"No no no, if you're worried I'm upset at you Five, I'm not. Today has been... _a day_ and I'm ready to stop experiencing this day." You explain calmly "We can talk tomorrow but for right now point me to where I can knock out for a few hours."

"Well, Elliott and Luther are shoved into the darkroom so you can take the bedroom. It's straight down the hall." Five replies

"Thank you. Charlie, you make the phone call, I'm going to bed. Five if you decide to sleep tonight, which I highly doubt given the circumstances and how fresh that pot of coffee smells, feel free to come join me and get eight hours of rest for once."

"Absolu-" Diego starts to exclaim

You turn your attention to him quickly and harshly question,

"I'm sorry but do you have a comment to make about my LOVING boyfriend who spent FORTY-FIVE years in a WASTELAND completely ALONE to try and get back to _ME_?"

Diego closes his mouth and looks away from you.

"That's what I thought," You state before adding "Goodnight."

With that, you turn around a headed down the hall towards the bedroom to fall asleep. Once you enter the room you kick off your heels and plopped down on the bed. You were too emotionally tired to search for any sort of pajamas so you stayed in your dress. As you sat down on the bed and started to process all that was said you couldn't help but get overwhelmed. Your whole existence had been flipped upside down in a matter of hours and it was just so much. Quietly, you let out tiny sobs unsure of any other way to cope. 

The three boys had watched you walk away and once the door to the bedroom closes Charlie quietly gets up from his seat and heads over to the phone to make a call.

"Look what you did. Now she's mad at me." Diego complains to Five

"What I did? You were the one to go and get with that psycho." Five retorts annoyed

"You didn't have to tell (Y/N) and her name is Lila." Diego replies

"I don't care about her name and you shouldn't either. Also, I'm not going to lie to my girlfriend." Five complains standing up from the couch "Now if you need me I'm going to go get eight hours of sleep with my girlfriend."

Diego looks at Five angrily as he walks away and towards the bedroom. As Five walks through the kitchen he sees Charlie hanging up the phone.

"Charlie, you can take the couch for the night." Five states before turning to Diego "Diego get off it so he can sleep."

"You're the worst brother ever," Diego replies standing up and moving to one of the sofa chairs

"The feeling is mutual." Five replies

He then walks down the hall and quietly enters the bedroom. As he opens the door he can hear you quietly sniffling. Carefully, he approaches the side of the bed you were on and sits next to you. Gently, he strokes your hair as he asks,

"Are you okay, my love?"

"No." You quietly reply

"Is it because of Diego or the apocalypse?"

"It's- it's just a lot for one day..."

"I know darling." Five softly replies "And I'm sorry. I never wanted anything like this to happen."

The two of you sat on the bed silently and slowly you leaned over and rested your head on your boyfriend's shoulder. Five wrapped an arm around you and held you against him. He hated seeing you so upset. Five tried to think about a way to make you feel better, something to help ease the distress you were going through. An idea came to his head and he stood up from the bed. Turning to you he extending his hand for you to take it. You looked at him quizzically.

"What are you doing?" You asked

A boyish smile appears on his face as he answers,

"We didn't get a chance to dance at the consulate."

Your eyes start to dry and a smile reappears on your face as you take his hand. Standing up Five holds you against him as the two of you start to sway in the dark room with only the light of the moon to guide you. From outside you can hear the sound of a radio playing Elvis Presley's _Can't Help Falling In Love_ and using your powers you open the bedroom window so the sound is clearer. You and Five locked eyes with each other and the world started to fade away. The apocalypse and all the other worries you two faced were irrelevant at this moment. Five slowly leaned his head down and pressed his lips against yours. Unlike the kiss when you reunited earlier, this one was soft and gentle rather than passionate and needy, but the emotion expressed in it was just as strong. This was all either of you needed, and just like the song, neither of you could help falling in love with the other. Parting from the kiss you rest your head on his chest and as you continue to say you can feel yourself getting tired. Five sensed it and asked,

"Tired love?"

You slowly nodded your head. Guiding you back to the bed, Five helped your tired self get in under the covers. Making his way to the other side of the bed he kicks off his shoes before removing his jacket, vest, and tie, laying them nicely on a nearby chair. As he approaches the bed you lift the covers up so he can slide in next to you. You roll towards him, wrapping your arms around his waist and placing your head on his chest. Five wraps his arms back around you and rests his head on top of yours. As he slowly runs his hand up and down your back he says,

"As long as we have each other everything will turn out fine."

You nod your head lightly and Five places a gentle kiss on the top of it. You had missed all of this more than words could express. The memory of being close to Five had started to fade over your years and you started to forget what it was like to hold your boyfriend, dance with him, and just exist with him. But getting to share this with him once more you knew that there was no need to worry because he wouldn't leave your side. Closing your eyes, you start to listen to the beating of Five's heart, and soon enough you managed to fall asleep. Five watched as you slept holding you tight against him. He was worried he'd lose you again if he let go even for a second. You were so resilient, finding your way in a new world after he had dropped you in it a second time, and yet you still found it in your heart to love him. Five didn't know what he did to deserve you, what he did to get to call you his one and only, but he was going to stop this apocalypse no matter what and he was going to make it up to you for leaving you here so long.

The night went on and Five closed his eyes but when he opened them again light was peering through the blinds of the bedroom. It was morning. He had actually slept. Outside the bedroom, he could hear the sounds of chatter in the kitchen. He blinked a few times trying to get the feeling of sleep to go away to no avail. He needed a coffee but you were still peacefully sleeping on top of him and he didn't want to wake you. He smiled at the sight of you. The rays of sunshine lit up your messy hair giving you a radiant glow. A wave of feeling came over Five and compelled him to kiss you and so just like the night before he placed a gentle kiss on the top of your head. And just like Sleeping Beauty, you started to wake at the feeling of a kiss from your one true love.  
You let out a yawn as your eyes flutter open halfway. The world was still a blur but you could tell from the amount of light that it was day.

"It's morning," you slur still half asleep

Five chuckles to himself at your groggy response. Adorable. He looks at your tired face and replies,

"Yes, it is. Good morning,"

You did not want to deal with all the revelations from the night before nor did you want to deal with whatever else the world was going to throw at you given that it was being flipped on its head again. You nuzzled your face deeper into Five's chest and you stated muffled,

"I don't want to get up,"

"Neither do I, but if you recall there is an apocalypse to stop."

"Can't we deal with it tomorrow?" you ask

"Unfortunately, that's not really an option."

You let out a huff. Maybe if you refused to get up he would just willingly stay. That was not the case though because Five sat up from laying in bed and looked down towards you. If the impending apocalypse wasn't occurring he'd happily stay with you all morning but the world was going to end and he needed to stop it. You look back up towards him with a grumpy look on your face that your plan didn't work.

"I'm going to get up so I can start figuring out a new plan, but you feel free to stay here as long as you like. Okay?" Five explains calmly

"Okay..." You mumble

Five takes your hand and brings it up to his lips placing a soft kiss on the top of it. Pulling away he looks at you once more, his thumb gently running back and forth across your knuckles.

"I'm going to go now but you come and join whenever you want."

You nod your head and with that Five gets up and puts on his vest, tie, jacket, and shoes. He heads to the door and walks out closing it behind him but not before giving you one last smile. You lay in bed for a few minutes but without Five with you, there was no reason to stay. You get up from the bed and look in the mirror in the corner of the room. Fixing your hair and flattening out your dress you decide to leave the room and walk out to the chattering of the others who were awake. You saw Luther standing by the stove, Five leaned up against a counter, Charlie sitting at the kitchen table and Diego pacing back and forth. You walk past Diego and sit down on the other chair at the kitchen table.

"No, no, no, I don't understand. They keep following me." Diego says, a scowl on his face

"What are they talking about?" You ask Charlie

"I don't know. I've been staring at the number of eggs that Luther has been cooking." Charlie replies

As you look over and see a mountain of scrambled eggs Luther asks,

"Wait, who?"

"Those Dutch sociopaths." Diego states

"They're Swedish, you idiot." Five comments "Hired guns paid to eradicate us before we do any more damage to this timeline."

"Oh. No wonder those guys said she's one of them when I fought them at the consulate. I'm one of the people they want dead." You mention aloud

"You fought them?" Diego and Five ask simultaneously

"Uh, Yeah." You reply bluntly

"We're going to discuss that later," Diego says before turning to Five "Why now? I mean, I'm fine for three months until you showed up."

"Yeah, I was here for a year and no one messed with me." Luther comments

"I had almost four years with no problems." You add

After you finish your statement another man walks into the room. He looks around at the people there before looking towards you and Charlie. Pointing at you two he says,

"I've seen you before."

Diego, Luther, and Five all look towards you confused.

"Oh yeah, four days ago I paid you a hundred dollars so we could. use your phone to make calls."

"You also threatened to gouge his eyes out if he didn't" Charlie adds

"You what?" Luther asks

Ignoring him you reply to Charlie,

"He tried shutting the door on my face and we needed a phone, I had no choice in the matter."

" _Sure..._ " Charlie says sarcastically

"That's true but I feel like I've seen you somewhere else." The man says

Without another word, he walks out of the kitchen and into the living room. Odd. Diego then turns to Five and angrily says,

"I still don't understand how all of can be fine until you show up."

"Listen, even if it was my fault, _which it isn't_ , we only have six days before the end of the world" Five explains "And the closest anyone's gotten to Dad was that driveway at the consulate."

Well...that wasn't exactly true but you weren't going to say anything. This wasn't the time. You think. As you decided to keep quiet you could feel someone looking at you. You look over at Charlie and see him staring at you intently. You knew what he was thinking in his head but you were not going to acknowledge him on it. Instead, you looked away, back towards the conversation at hand. 

"Well...That's not exactly true." Luther says looking up from his eggs

"What do you mean?" Five then asks

"I saw him." Luther states

You and the rest of the group look on intrigued as Luther details the events of him seeing Reginald in person. The more he detailed the story though the more you came to a realization. That was your birthday party a year ago. How did you not see him or run into him? Your eyes then go wide as you realize something one more. You look over to Charlie who looks like he's going through the same realization. In sync you both whisper,

"The hobo."

Charlie gets up from his seat and makes his way over to the doorway to the living room. You follow after him and stand close by. The two of you stay facing forward pretending that you are still listening. Slowly as not to cause suspicion, Charlie leans over to you and whispers,

"You need to tell them."

"I'm not telling them shit." You whisper back

"(Y/N) they need to know!" Charlie whispers more aggressively

"This is not the time!" You whisper aggressively back

You and Charlie continue to whisper fight with each other catching the attention of the Hargreeves boys. They look on in confusion trying to figure out what you two were saying. As the two of you continued to quietly bicker, Elliott exclaimed,

"I remember where I know you from! You're Reginald Hargreeves adoptive daughter!"

You immediately retch at his words. You hated people calling you that, being his daughter is the last thing you wanted to be. The Hargreeves boys stare at you with the jaws dropped. They weren't sure if they heard Elliott correctly.

"Elliott, what do you mean Reginald Hargreeves, _daughter_?" Diego questions

"Well just look at the newspaper," Elliot says holding out the paper for Diego to take

Diego snatches the paper from his hands as Luther and Five move closer to look at it. The three of them look at the giant front-page photo of you smiling, surrounded by a group of people, as you stand between their dad and Grace. The three of them then proceed to read the front-page headline: _Blasting America Upward: NASA Reveals Billionaire Reginald Hargreeves' Adoptive Daughter as Originator of Primate Rocket Test Trial Concept_

"Elliott, why do you have this?" Five asks

"I kept it because the front-page photo includes Majestic Twelve member Michael Anderson," Elliott explains _  
_

"Ew, imagine wanting to keep a photo of my dad." Charlie comments annoyed

"HE'S YOUR DAD?!" Elliott exclaims

"Yeah, regrettably." Charlie replies "I'm Charlie Anderson. His son."

"Oh wow! A Majestic 12 member's son is in MY apartment! I have so many questions!" Elliott excitedly bursts

Elliott takes Charlie by the arm and pulls him over to his desk full of papers and news clippings leaving you to deal with the fallout of the revelation. 

"We're you even going to tell us this?" Five asks quietly

"I don't know...Maybe? I wouldn't know where to start..." You try to explain

"Well start explaining then." Diego commands

"Yeah! Why does this say you're his adoptive daughter!" Luther questions angrily

"First of all, I'm _**not**_ his adoptive daughter. The public always gets that wrong. The only thing I am is the heir to his estate, legally I am not his child nor would I ever choose to be. All of this happened by accident!" You exclaim

"What do you mean by accident?" Five inquires

You start to pace around and make wild gestures with your hands as you try to find the words to explain the circumstances. Everything was really just a series of events. Trying your best you start to ramble to them about what's happened.

"When I was dropped in the alley I passed out, went into a coma for seven days, woke up in the hospital and the first person I saw was Mom. She found me in the alley and constantly visited me while I was in the hospital. After I was released she took me in. We went to some meeting and met Reginald and some of his colleagues. I presented the idea to send a primate into space and everyone agreed with it."

"Pogo," Diego said

"Yeah, Pogo. And then Mom and Reginald started working together, unfortunately, started dating, Mom alone legally adopted, and then we moved in with Reginald and I became a public figure. Literally, everything has been by chance! Hell, even meeting Charlie was by chance!"

"That's true," Charlie comments trying to get away from Elliott

"Wait..." Diego interjects "You were in a coma for seven days?"

"Were you in pain?" Five asks concerned

"Guys, that's not what matters right now!" Luther exclaims

"Of course it matters! She was in a coma!" Five reprimands him

"She was in a coma FOUR YEARS AGO!" 

"No Luther, this is important." Diego retorts "So you're okay?"

"I'm here aren't I?" You reply to Diego before turning to Five and saying "Don't worry I wasn't in pain."

"So that's why you were at the consulate yesterday. You attended with him." Five comments

"And mom," Diego adds

"Yup. I was forced to go because Reginald, Mom, and I are apparently an _influential unit_." You respond

"That man will say anything but the word family." Charlie jokes as he walks over to you, finally escaping Elliott

"Oh, so you've just been galavanting about with our mom and dad while you've been here, huh? That's what you've been doing." Luther accuses 

"Luther, who cares what she was doing? That's not what matters. We need to get to dad because he knows something about time travel." Five ridicules

Luther rolls his eyes and lets out a huff before heading back to the kitchen table and plopping down in one of the seats. Grabbing his fork he starts to shovel eggs into his mouth. Elliott approaches the kitchen and asks Five,

"Wait, why don't you just do your thing and, uh, time travel us out?"

Five lets out a huff before walking over to refill his cup with coffee.

"Anyone care to explain?" Five asks annoyed

"First time he tried, he got lost in the apocalypse." Luther states

A pout comes upon Diego's face as he crosses his arms. Angrily mumbling, Diego adds,

"Second time, he regressed in age and started dating my sister," 

You look over at your brother. He was making it sound like the consequence of Five's time-traveling was not his physical age getting messed up but rather the fact that he started dating you. Unsurprising yet still unbelievable.   
  
"Last time I tried, I scattered my family, and lovely girlfriend over there, across three years in Dallas, Texas, possibly triggering a doomsday." Five explains

"Damn when you said he fucked up, I didn't think you meant he _fucked up_ fucked up." Charlie leans over and mentions to you

"Charlie," you reprimand lightly, hitting his arm "That's my boyfriend, be a bit more sensitive."

"You said it first."

"I was summarizing..."

Unaware of the conversation you were having with Charlie, Five turns to Elliott. His signature know-it-all look on his face as he asks,

"Any more questions, Elliott?"  
  
"Uh, no." Elliott replies

"You're missing the big picture Dad is the ringleader of a sinister cabal that's planning to kill the president." Diego exclaims

Dear God, when was he going to give up on this whole save JFK deal? You knew the answer to that question. It was never. He had to save JFK or JFK had to die for this to be done. You had no clue why he was making these connections though. Granted you didn't associate with Reggie outside of what was necessary but you never got an indication that he was part of a cabal. Sure he had government ties but...a cabal seemed like a stretch to you. You knew wickedness resided inside of him but he would never assassinate the president, especially since Grace admired JFK so much. Would he?  
  
"A cabal?" Luther questions, his mouth still full of eggs

"Ignore him, Luther. Look, the way I see it, we only have one option." Five states to the group 

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" Luther questions  
  
"It's time to get the Umbrella Academy back together." Five replies  
  
"Hell, yeah. Family meeting." Diego says  
  
"Okay then, can one of you get Allison, please?" Luther asks  
  
"You two still a thing?" Diego inquires

Luther just looks at him without responding. Knowing something was up Diego leans in closer and quietly asks,

"Do we need to talk?"

"No, she's married." Luther replies upset  
  
"Whoa. Dude, that's rough." Diego responds  
  
"I can handle it." Luther lies  
  
"I'll get her. Can you get Vanya without, uh, squeezing her to death?" Five requests  
  
"I'll try." Luther retorts

Five starts to walk away and towards the stairs leading down to the ground floor of the building. You turn to Charlie and say,

"I'll be right back."

As you walk away you can see Elliott approaching Charlie out of your peripheral and from behind you, you hear Charlie call,

"(Y/N)!"

You kept moving on though and follow Five down the stairs to the front entrance. When you get to the front door Five stops and turns around to face you.

"Are you coming with me?" He questions, a smile on his face

You were thinking about it but then you heard from upstairs,

"Please stop asking me about my dad! I don't like him!"

You watch as Charlie tries to speedwalk away from Elliott upstairs.

"Please I just want to know about him!" Elliott says following him

"I think I'm going to stay to keep Elliott at bay and Charlie from jumping out a window." You reply to Five

"That's reasonable."

"You'll be back soon?" You ask

"As quick as can be mon chérie." Five says before placing a quick peck on your cheek

He pulls back and you give him a smile which he returns before flashing away. Turning around you head back upstairs. Luther had left through the back entrance to go get Vanya so all that was left was Diego, Elliott, you, and Charlie. Elliott continued to push Charlie to talk about his dad and you could tell Charlie was getting frustrated. His dad was the last person he'd want to talk about, especially unwillingly. 

"Please I've never even gotten close to anyone whose parent is high up in the majestic 12 before just tell me something!" Elliott begs

You watch as Charlie stops in place and turns on his heel to face Elliott and looks him dead in the eyes. Charlie's face was red and his expression was less than enthused. You hear as Charlie takes a deep breath in before bursting,

"You want to know about my dad? You really want to know? He's an awful person. Never loved me, never loved my mom, he only ever loved himself. Everything he does is for personal gain and status. He could care less about anything that requires emotional labor and has done the barest of bare minimum as a parent. He's an awful man, I want him to die soon and god do I hope he rots in hell once he does. Is that enough for you?"

Elliott nods his head and from the kitchen Diego comments,

"Amen, right there with you bro!"

Charlie walks off to the couch and quietly sits down on it. You knew he was upset, he hated his dad as much as the Hargreeves hated theirs. You had no clue what it was like to despise your father but you did know what it was like to despise theirs. Walking behind the couch you stood directly behind Charlie because you knew there was one way to cheer him up immediately. Extending your arm out above his head you reach your hand out flat before proceeding to aggressively pat him on the head. At first, he tries swatting you away but in time he starts laughing. When you can tell he's all better you stop and he looks up at you.

"So a family meeting, huh?" Charlie says

"Yup. You'll finally get to meet everyone in the flesh." You reply walking around to the front of the couch

"How well do you think it's going to go?" Charlie questions

"About as well as me and Diego talking last night. Probably worse." You reply bluntly as you sit next to him

Charlie gives a small nod of his head. He had this look on his face and you knew he was contemplating saying something.

"Just say it." you command

"What?"

"You're thinking about something, so just say it."

"You can't stay mad at Diego forever. He's your brother." Charlie comments

"I will do what I must." You reply crossing your arms

"You will try." He responds

You stand up and start to pace back and forth in front of the couch. Charlie knew you better than this there was something deeper than just being mad at Diego for meeting someone else. He agreed with all the points you had made before but he could just feel something was missing from your reasoning. As you pace around you complain

"It just doesn't make sense! He knew Eudora for a decade. That's approximately 3650 days plus two leap years so 3652. He knew this floozy for four. You know how much 4 is of 3652?" 

"How much?" Charlie asks unenthused

"0.001 percent. It's a fraction of a fraction of A FRACTION!" You exclaim angrily

"Okay, so what's the real issue." Charlie questions

You look at him with a mix of anger and surprise.

"How dare you- I- uh-" You try to respond

You shut your mouth when you realize no response would come. He was right. That wasn't quite the real issue, it was part of it but it wasn't the root cause. You let out a sigh and look down at the ground. There was a far off look in your eyes as you sat on the coffee table across from Charlie. You thought about why you were truly upset, what was really making you tick and it hurt you to think about. You looked up at Charlie as you tried to hold a few tears back. Your voice wavered as you softly spoke,

"Besides my Mom, he and Eudora were the closest things I had to parents after I lost mine...We were a family...and it feels like he's throwing all of that away..."

"And you're losing your family to a stranger." Charlie adds

You nod your head lightly. Charlie stands up and reaches his hand out lightly patting your head. A small smile comes to your face and you look up towards your friend.

"How about we go for a short walk? Clear your head before everyone gets here. You know someone is going to mention you've been living with Reggie, so might as well get in the headspace for whatever reactions might occur." Charlie suggests

You nod your head once more and the two of you head downstairs to get some air before everyone else showed up. As you walked away Diego peeked his head around the doorframe and watched you leave, his face streaked with a few stray tears. In your fit of anger, you had forgotten that Diego was still at the apartment. He had heard what you had said and between last night and now he couldn't help but feel disappointed in himself. He still had complicated feelings in terms of Lila but he needed to figure them out because they really weren't worth you feeling like you were losing him to someone who had barely been around. He knew how awful that feeling was. Diego dried his eyes and put on a strong face as he heard Luther arrive back with Vanya.

Time passed and Five had arrived back with Klaus and Allison. It took forever to get them to come along though since they were both relentlessly drunk. As Five entered the building with his inebriated siblings he saw the other three up on the balcony above. As the sun shined in the room the six living Hargreeves all looked at each other. Breaking the silence, Klaus pulls off his glasses and comments,

"Oh, wow. I know this is impossible, but...did we all get sexier?"

Allison looks up at the balcony above. There stood Vanya in the flesh. She hadn't seen her since the night of the apocalypse. Her voice wavered and she said,  
  
"Vanya."

Vanya looked back down at Allison. Pure joy radiated off of her as she excitedly replied,  
  
"I can't believe I have a sister."

Vanya makes her way down the stairs towards where the rest of the group is and Luther and Diego follow suit. When Vanya gets to the main floor she stands in front of Allison. The two of them look at each other for a bit before Allison quietly states,  
  
"I missed you."  
  
"Thank God someone did. " Vanya responds

The two of them stand awkwardly for a second before opening their arms and enveloping each other. The two sisters happily reunited. Klaus attempts to hug Diego but Diego extends his arm keeping him at a distance.

"Oh, you are drunk." Diego states  
  
"Yeah. No, just a little... just a few..." Klaus says before noticing the hug going on "Oh, that's so sweet."  
  
Slowly Klaus walks over to his sisters and wraps his arms around them.

"Hi" Vanya softly says

"Hey, Vanny." Klaus greets placing a kiss to the top of her head

Five looked around and noticed that you were nowhere to be found. He was about to start asking questions when he heard the door to the building open and the sound of your voice speaking behind him.

"And so that's how I snuck me and my friends into a 21+ club at 16 years old." you explain to Charlie, unaware of the others in the room

"You what?!" Diego exclaims

Your attention snaps to the room filled with Hargreeves. You look around to see Vanya, Allison, and Klaus standing all together on the left side of the room while Luther, Diego, and Five stand on the right side. And then you noticed one more Hargreeves sitting in the corner on an old TV display. Ben. You smiled at him and he happily waved back. Turning your attention back to the living group you attempt to divert the topic by saying

"Hey everyone! Long time, no see!" 

"Hey (Y/N)! It's nice to see you again!" Klaus says buying into the diversion

Diego shoots you an upset look that only a protective older brother would give and you shrug your shoulders back. You see Vanya looking at you quizzically. She then asks,

"Are you my sister too?"

You now look back confused. Vanya knew you two weren't related so why was she asking that?

"She has amnesia." Five informs

"Oh." You express before turning to Vanya "No, I'm not related to you. Diego sees me as his little sister but I'm not a Hargreeves."

"Just because you weren't adopted by our dad doesn't mean you're not a Hargreeves. You're family." Ben comments from behind you

You smile at his comment. Five then proceeds to ask,

"Klaus. Is Ben here?"  
  
"Oh, uh... no." Klaus fumbles out before lying "No, unfortunately, ghosts can't time travel."

"What?" You say to yourself, a confused look on your face  
  
"Are you kidding me?" Ben exclaims annoyed

Seeing that this was going to be everyone, Five decides to move forward with the meeting and states,   
  
"All right, then. Let's get down to business."

Everyone starts to make their way upstairs and finds somewhere to sit or stand in the living room. Once everyone is settled Five takes the charge of starting to meeting and says,

"All right. First off, I wanna say I'm sorry. I know I really screwed the pooch on this whole going-back-in-time-and-getting-stuck thing. But the real kick in the pants here is we brought the end of the world back here with us."  
  
"Oh, my God, again?" Klaus exclaims as he grabs himself a drink

He looks around at the group and everyone looks back. He didn't know already? Realizing that he was out of the loop Klaus continues,

"All of you knew? Why am I always the last one to find out about the end of the...Oh, my God. My cult is gonna be so pissed. Five! I told them we had until 2019."  
  
"We have until Monday. We have six days." Five states  
  
"Is it Vanya?" Klaus asks  
  
"Klaus." Allison chastises 

"What? It's usually Vanya." Klaus retorts  
  
"Do you have any leads, Five?" Vanya questions  
  
"Yeah, we have one." Five says taking a file from Diego

Five hands the file to Allison and she opens it to see a photo paperclipped to the inside. Her eyes go wide with shock as she comments,  
  
"Holy shit, is that Dad?"

"Yeah." Diego replies  
  
"That's him?" Vanya inquires

"Standing on the grassy knoll." Diego informs  
  
"Diego and I have been trying to talk to Dad about what exactly this means. So far, we've got nothing." Five explains

"Not nothing. He's planning to kill Kennedy." Diego retorts

"Maybe. But we don't know who or what sets doomsday in motion. Could be Kennedy, could be something entirely independent. But if we know something changes the timeline, we have to make it right." Five corrects  
  
"Yeah, but how are we supposed to fix it if we don't know what's broken?" Allison asks  
  
"Come on. Do the math. We know Dad's having shady-ass meetings with some shady-ass people. We know he's on the grassy knoll in three days to kill the president. So I think we all know what we have to do." Diego describes getting up from his chair  
  
"Talk to Dad." Five states

"Kill Dad." Diego says at the same time

Five looks back at Diego and shoots him a look while the others look around in confusion. Even Ben was puzzled by what was going on. He looks your way and you shrug your shoulders mouthing _I don't know_ to him.  
  
"None of us are supposed to be here, right? I mean, what if it's us? Has anyone here done anything to screw up the timeline?" Vanya wonders

Everyone is silent for a second looking at each other with wide eyes. It seems like no one is going to say anything until Luther chimes in,  
  
"Diego's been stalking Lee Harvey Oswald."

"And you're working for Jack Ruby." Diego yells back  
  
"Allison has been very involved in local politics." Klaus slips into the conversation  
  
"Okay, you started a cult." Allison retorts

"Thank you!" Ben exclaims finally getting support  
  
"I'm... I'm just a... a nanny on a farm. I don't have anything to do with all of that." Vanya stutter  
  
"Well, maybe you do, we just don't know it yet." Allison comments back

Diego whistles loudly grabbing everyone's attention. With all eyes on him, he explains,  
  
"Listen to yourselves. Everything in our new lives is connected to Kennedy. That can't be a coincidence. Luther works for Ruby, Allison is protesting the government, Dad is on the grassy knoll, (Y/N) has been living with him for 3 years, Klaus is...doing something weird and pervy but probably related. See, clearly, we were all sent back here for one special reason: saving John Fitzgerald Kennedy."

"I'm sorry go back a second. (Y/N) has been living with him?" Allison asks

"If it makes it any better it was completely by accident. A series of unfortunate events." You explain

"Lemon Snickers," Charlie says to himself

"So close buddy. Good try." You reply patting his arm  
  
Everyone looks around for a second before starting to argue again with each other. Their voices becoming a cacophony of sound. You and Charlie look on at the mess that is a Hargreeves get together.

"You were right, this is worse than last night." Charlie admits

"Yeah, I told you."

From across the room, Five listens to the sound of his siblings arguing blending together. The loud mixture of noise sent him back into his memories. The awful future of if they don't stop this doomsday. He remembered the fire and destruction. The ash in the air and the bodies on the ground. A bloody mess in the exact same street just outside the building. And his siblings eviscerated by nuclear weapons, reduced to nothing. While everyone continued to argue you saw Five slipping into the recesses of his memory. Walking over to him you pull his hand out of his pocket and take it in yours. Five shakes his head slightly and looks at you after fully coming back to reality. He holds your hand a bit tighter before turning back to his siblings.

"Guys, you all die." Five states, his voice wavering as he spoke

You squeezed his hand, reassuring him that you were there for him. Taking a breath he hesitantly continues, 

"I was there. I saw it. And I wanna forget it, but I can't. I saw Russian nukes vaporize the world with all of you in it...in a war that never happened until we brought it here. And Hazel gave his life to save us, so you may need to shut up and just listen to me. I don't know if the things we've experienced here are all connected. I don't know if there's a reason for everything. But Dad will. We need to talk to him before everyone and everything we know is dead."

Five finishes his thoughts and without a second to pause Luther gets up from his seat and says,  
  
"Okay, I'm out."  
  
"Did you even hear me, Luther?" Five criticizes  
  
"Yeah, I did. I heard a 58-year-old man who still wants his daddy to come and fix everything. Why don't you get your girlfriend to help you out. She's his favorite after all." Luther ridicules

Luther starts to walk away but you could feel your blood boil. Five had been through 45 years of one apocalypse, saved all of you from dying when you were unable to stop it and now was pleading with his siblings to help him stop this new one and Luther was just going to walk out? Unable to contain your anger you shout,

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Everyone turns to look at you, Luther included.

"Minus Vanya we all agreed to travel back in time. We took a gamble to save our lives, ended up here and now we're facing a doomsday. That's the facts of the matter, we fucked up by being here and now we need to stop it and get out. If Five thinks that your dad can help us then we should listen."

"Well, you can still count me out. It's time we all grew the hell up and I'm sure you can run on home to dad and fix it _Number Zero._ " Luther mocks

"You know you're being a real prick Luther! For someone who wants us all to grow up, it's childish of you to still be mad that my number is above yours. A number I didn't want in the FUCKING FIRST PLACE!" You rebuke

Luther shakes his head before stating,

"I'm out of here."  
  
"Luther!" Vanya exclaims

"Come back." Allison begs

Diego gets up from his seat and starts following Luther down the stairs. You watch as Luther walks away. Maybe it was better without him here.

"Where are you going?"

"Save it, Diego," Luther says

Letting go of your hand Five spacial jumps down the stairs and in front of Luther. Looking him in his eyes Five commands,  
  
"No one leaves until we figure this out."

Luther stares at Five for a second before grabbing him by the shirt and tossing him over the railing. Spacial jumping once more so he didn't hit the ground Five lands outside in the alleyway. Straightening out his uniform he looks back towards the building and asks himself,  
  
"Jeez...When did the monkey learn how to fight dirty?"

Five starts walking back to the door to enter the building but hears a clatter coming from the roof above. Looking up he sees Lila standing there. Speaking the only words that come to his mind he comments,  
  
"Son of a bitch."


	34. The Tattoo - "A Family Reunion" Side Story

**January 17th, 2014:**

After a long day at school, Diego had come to pick you up. Holding the straps of your backpack you walked towards his car. Although the Umbrella Academy had pretty much faded out of the collective thoughts of the public, Diego still tried to keep a low profile for you. You never knew if there were any die-hard fans around so it was better to be safe than sorry. Getting into the passenger seat Diego happily ruffles your hair saying,

“Hey kiddo, you made it to Friday. Congrats on finishing your second school week.”

“Thanks.” You replied softly

It had been hard starting school again. You had been there for only ten days in total and it was completely different from what you knew. Public school was nothing like the private school your parents used to send you to. It was loud and rambunctious and there was never a quiet moment. It was good because you were never alone with your thoughts but the semi-structured environment wasn’t something you were equipped for. And on top of it, you were surrounded by kids your age but they weren’t your friends. You didn’t have friends anymore. As Diego drove away from the school you looked out the window watching the other kids pass by as they got on busses or into their family’s cars. Turning back to sit straight Diego asks,

“Anything interesting happen today?” 

“I pulled a knife on a kid at lunch.” You reply nonchalantly

“I’m not saying you were wrong. But why?” Diego asks

“He had a bow and arrow on him and startled me.” you responded

You hadn’t expected anyone to come up to you during lunch. You typically minded your own business and sat alone. Well, not completely alone. You sat at the same table as a girl from your music class. You knew she played the viola but other than that was quiet and reserved. You two never really talked but every once in a while you’d glance at each other. The kid that approached you though was more outgoing and made his presence known. He was in your gym class and always seen with a taller blond boy. You didn’t know why he had decided to come over to you but nevertheless, he did and even after you had pulled a knife on him he decided to sit down across from you and start talking. You didn’t really respond but you did listen to him. He kind of reminded you of Diego but maybe this would be just a one-off experience. 

Diego had thought about your response for just a quick second before responding,

“That’s reasonable. I’m proud of you for protecting yourself.”

“He didn’t seem like too much of a threat but okay.” you stated

Diego let out a small laugh. Of course, you wouldn’t see some 13-year old with a bow as a threat. Diego continued to drive as you told him about your classes and what you were studying. He listened happily as you discussed the experiments you were doing in Science class and how you were writing poetry in English. The two of you soon came to a stop as you arrived at the boxing club you were both a part of. On Friday’s you would come along with him before going back to the academy the next day. Entering the building you sat down on a nearby chair and started working on your homework as Diego trained with another member. Typically, he would work with you but because he had a match coming up soon he needed to focus on himself. 

Every once in a while though you would go up to the side of the ring and ask for help with a part of your homework. Sometimes you actually needed help but other times you just enjoyed the way your brother’s eyes lit up when you told him you needed him and the proud look on his face when you finally solved the problem. When you had finished your homework you would drag the chair to the side of the ring to watch your brother spar. Swinging your feet back and forth as you sat on the chair you tried to study the practice fight so you could improve your own fighting skills. During the fight though you would catch quick glimpses of Diego’s wrist and the Umbrella Academy tattoo that resided on it. You hated the sight. It was as if Reginald permanently branded him, connecting him to something he never decided to be a part of in the first place. It was a marking that would never go away just like the childhood he was robbed of as part of the Umbrella Academy.

The hours passed and soon it was time to close the club down for the day. Most other club members left and Diego grabbed the mop and bucket from the corner to start cleaning. Cleaning up the club was his livelihood. Al, the owner, was kind enough to let him turn the boiler room into a bedroom and give him a decent wage in exchange for training people during the day and cleaning up at night. You were always so proud of him. Your brother worked hard, harder than anyone else you knew. Even during his time in the Umbrella Academy he always pushed himself to do his best and then some. You admired it and wanted to work just as hard as he did. 

As he cleaned, you tried to help him though. Using your powers you did your best to liquefy the dried sweat and blood so it would be easier to clean. By the time he had finished, it was late and you had grown tired. Diego puts the mop and bucket away before coming over to you and saying,

“I think it’s time you get to sleep.” 

You nodded your head and let out a yawn standing up so you could head to the boiler room that Diego called home. Placing a hand on your back Diego guided you there. You rubbed your eyes before climbing into the bed. Diego tucked you in nicely before sitting on the edge of the bed and stroking your hair until you fell asleep. Once he knew you were completely asleep he carefully got up and went over to a chair across the room. He sat and watched you for a while to make sure you were okay but soon enough he drifted off too.

You started to toss and turn in your sleep. A chill creeping into your bones as images of snow rushed into your mind. The voices of your parents and friends surrounding you. Frantically you look around for them and see silhouettes. Familiar figures extending their hands as they call our your name, beckoning you to them. You rush towards the figures but the snow starts to pick up. The figures become obscured. You run around calling out their names but no one responds. From behind you, you hear the sound of snow crunching as if someone was running away. You turn around from the direction your family and friends were and follow the footsteps in the snow. Up ahead you see a figure that grows clearer the closer you get. 

“Five.”

You pushed yourself to run harder. To try and catch him. When you feel you’re close enough you extend your hand to grab his jacket but just as you do he vanishes. You trip and fall to the ground.

“No!” You called out as you sat up straight in bed.

Your body shook as tears started to prick your eyes. You looked around only to see the boiler room and Diego sitting on his chair off to the side. No snow, no figures, no Five. You took a few breaths before quietly getting up from the bed and heading over towards Diego. Carefully, you shake his arm quietly calling,

“Eggo. Eggoooo.”

Diego wakes up startled but soon calms down when he sees you there. He can see the tears building up in your eyes glisten from the light of the lamp. He always left the lamp on because he thought it would ease the nightmares but they still seemed to happen.

“Bad dream?” He questioned softly

You nodded your head in response. Diego opened his arms allowing you to sit in his lap before he held you close. You were so small and you didn’t deserve all this pain you were going through. He knew from his own experience of how difficult it was to be young and struggling with the pain of traumatic events. Tears slipped from your eyes as you dealt with the fallout of another nightmare. Diego slowly rocked you as he held you, the same way mom did for him when he was still small. When your vision cleared slightly you could see the image of the tattoo on Diego’s wrist. You reached out and using your pointer finger you began to trace the image over and over. Diego noticed what you were doing and questioned,

“Princess, why do you keep tracing that?”

You looked away from the tattoo and up at your older brother.

“If I trace it enough times maybe I can erase it away.” you explain quietly

“Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.” Diego responds

“But heat breaks down ink, if I can just vibrate the molecules enough I can make it go away. I know I can.” You elaborate 

“I’ve come to terms with it you don’t need to make it go away.” Diego softly replies

He hadn’t come to terms with it though. It was an awful reminder of the despicable man who he called his father. The same one whose roof you were now living under. Diego wished that he made more money, that he had a place where he could keep you safe from that man, but he didn’t. He knew you were fiercely independent and smart, but so was Five and their dad still did enough damage to make him run away through time. Five was the whole reason you were even in this mess. Diego wanted to seem strong for you though so he kept his feelings to himself on the matter. He might not have come to terms with it but you were the focus now, his focus, and his residual problems matter much less than making sure you would be okay.

“The one day I wasn’t able to be there...I went with my dad to bring your child to work day and yours did _this_.” You stated as you continued to look at the marking

It’s true. He did pick the one day where you were busy. You had talked all the week before about bring your child to work day and how it worked. You had gone every year with him since you were 3. He and his siblings were all excited to hear what it was like when you visited the next day but that excitement was ruined by the permanent scar they all received. 

Diego remembered that day in vivid detail. They were all summoned to the parlor and before they knew it the carnage began. Klaus got his tattoo first as punishment for being intoxicated. It was a vicious punishment for such a minor action. Allison went next and cried the whole time. When she finished Klaus held her as she continued to spill tears. Then it was his turn. The needle scared him but he put on a tough face to show that he had the mental fortitude to be a leader. He didn’t even accept comfort from his own mother. Luther and Ben went next and then Five was last. Five had looked at the front door the whole time, probably hoping you would show up unannounced and stop it before he was marked. It didn’t happen. All of them knew that their father chose this day on purpose. It was cruel. Diego looked off in the distance as the memories replayed in his head. He still tried to cheer up the conversation though by lightly joking,

“If he did it on a day you were around you would’ve burned the house down.” 

His joking didn’t work though as you sadly followed up,

“All of you hid it from me. Why?”

“We all knew you’d feel exactly like this, like it was your fault. We made a pact not to say anything because it would hurt your feelings and I’m sure you could guess who led the efforts on that idea.” Diego responded honestly

You nodded your head. Of course, _he_ didn’t want to hurt your feelings.

“I always felt like you knew, but you never said anything so I wasn’t sure. How did you find out?” Diego added

“Vanya.” You respond with a yawn

“Of course it was Vanya.” Diego mumbles

You could feel yourself growing tired again. Your eyelids started to droop as you explained,

“She had drawn the image in black marker on her wrist and when I asked why she told me. _He_ didn’t say anything until I brought it up.”

You didn’t like referring to Five by his name. You barely mentioned him because the wound of his loss was still too much. Diego didn’t understand how someone who cared for you so much could cut you so deeply. It didn’t make sense, and he couldn’t change the past.

“I could’ve protected you all...” You mumbled before falling back asleep

“It wasn’t your job to protect us.” Diego quietly replied

He held your small sleeping figure closer to him and rocked you once more.

“But it’s my job to protect you.”


	35. Sir Reginald and the Kids of the Round Table

You watched as Five disappeared and Luther walked out of the building with Diego trailing behind. You continued to face towards the downstairs area as you mumbled,

"Great."

From behind you, you can hear Allison question curiously,

"Number Zero, huh?" Allison

You turn around to look at her, annoyance written all over your face. You didn't want to deal with the conversation like this, let alone at all.

"It wasn't my choice. You think I wanted to be reduced to a number? I didn't care in the slightest that zero came before one." You replied, "I'm a person with a name, not an experiment and I made sure he followed that."

"So you are dear old daddy's favorite. Y'know I always kind of figured so. Never understood why though since you're the exact opposite of what he wanted his children to be." Klaus says with a drunken laugh

"Hell if I know. Our relationship has always been... _complex_." You state as you cross your arms over your chest

You couldn't quite grasp if they were just curious about the revelation or if they were actually upset by finding out their dad had called you number zero. Even if Luther was done with his dad, he still seemed to care a lot about it and unfortunately, they all still had their issues with their father so you had no clue how they might feel. You hoped it was just curiosity because you had never wanted to be zero and you really couldn't think of a circumstance in which you would accept such a name. It would have to be the only option left to agree to such a thing but Five and you all were going to stop the apocalypse so it wouldn't be a worry. You stand around awkwardly as a silence looms in the air over those of you who were still in the apartment. Wondering if and when the rest of them would come back, you all waited for a bit. After a few moments though Klaus broke the silence and said,

"This had been nice but you know, I could really go for some tacos right now. Allison?"

"Tacos? Shouldn't we wait?" Allison questioned

"You know those guys. I mean, it could take forever for them to bro it out. Vanya, tacos?" Klaus replies

"Is there any way that tacos are gonna cause the end of the world?" Vanya asks

"I mean, there's only one way to find out, right?" Klaus remarks

"Sure is." Allison chimes

"Let's go!" Klaus exclaims

"Where are you guys going? We need to figure out how to stop the...apocalypse" You tried to exclaim but it was no use

You stood at the top of the balcony as you watched them leave. You were starting to understand how Five felt dealing with his siblings. From behind you, you hear a voice say,

"I've missed you all...so much."

Ben.

"If it means anything, I missed you too." You state as you turn back around looking in Ben's direction

He turns his head to face you and replies,

"It does."

He looked at you and you cocked your head to the side slightly, intrigued at the sight before you. You realized what had felt off about him earlier. You hadn't quite noticed it because when he sat on the TV stand he was so far away but with him up close you realized, you could see him. Clearly. Before when you saw him he was more so just a giant blob of moving particles. Sometimes you could make out a head or arms but it was like static on a TV, no picture was clearly there. But now everything was so _defined_. It was as if the static had cleared and now you could see him in high definition. You could see his hair, his face, actual appendages like hands and fingers, and...ghost clothes? The point was he looked more like a person. He was still just a bunch of disturbed molecules but now he looked real. All that visualization practice with Charlie finally paid off. Slowly, you approached the seat he was sitting in and leaned down so you were face to face with him. Ben looked back at you confused. You were so close and he didn't know what was going on.

"Are you okay?" Ben asks concerned

You pull back and stand up straight.

"Stand up, Ben." You command

"What?" Ben questions

"Stand up."

Ben hesitantly stands up. You had never been so demanding with him before and he was highly confused about why you were so adamant about him stand up. He looks at you silently as you tell him,

"Lift your arms up, like this." You demonstrate to Ben

"T-pose!" Charlie exclaims

"Correct, but not in this instance." You say turning your attention to Charlie before turning back to Ben "Just trust me."

Ben looked at you and although he was confused there was a genuine look in your eyes. Unlike his siblings, you were trustworthy, you had never done him wrong. Slowly, Ben raised his arms like you had instructed before he got his arms up fully you wrapped your arms around his torso. You were hugging him. It wasn't a perfect hug because he wasn't solid, and if you held him too tight your arms would go through him, but you could feel the barrier of molecules where his back was and tried to balance your arms there. It took a second for Ben to register what was going on but once he did he carefully wrapped his arms back around you. This was the first hug he had gotten in years. He couldn't remember the last time someone held him but at this moment he forgot that he was a ghost and for the first time in years he felt like a person. Ben leaned more into the hug as he took in every second of it. He had wanted this for so long. He tried to wrap his arms around you tighter to bring you, the only other person who could see him, closer. But as he did so his arms went through you and he remembered a glaring fact. 

He was still dead.

Although he was disappointed by the reality of his existence and the façade of normalcy he felt a moment ago, he held on anyway. With the way things were going he didn't know if he'd get this ever again. After a bit, you pulled away and shot him a smile. You wondered if Klaus was kind to his brother with no real autonomy but you also hoped that Ben was kind to his evidently struggling sibling. You looked around the place and saw that no one had returned as of yey. 

"Hmm. Five would've been back by now." You comment

"Unless he ran off to do something," Charlie retorts

"Good point. I'm going to go take a look around outside real quick." You state before turning to Charlie "Charlie talk to Ben while I'm gone."

"Where is he? I can't see him like you can." Charlie asks

You use your arms to gesture to the space before you where Ben was standing. Charlie approaches albeit confused but tries his best to stand in front of him. With that, you start to walk away to head outside to look for Five but as you do Charlie calls out,

"Wait! He can't reply. What do I talk about?"

"I don't know, Russian Literature?" You shoot back

"That's a big no-no in my house. Y'know with my dad working for the government and all."

"Right. 1960s anti-Russian sentiment. Uh, just talk about something he can relate to then." You reply as you walk away

Charlie turns to Ben and the last thing you can hear is him asking,

"Do you want to hear about my shitty dad?"

With that, you walk out to try and find Five but he would be nowhere to be found. After seeing Lila on the roof he immediately started to chase after her. One, because he absolutely despised her and wanted her dead but also because he didn't want her anywhere near you or his family. If he played along with her little chase game he could get her further from you and his siblings. Five follows close behind as Lila continues to run, leading him away from the main part of town towards the industrial sector. Five keeps his distance as he follows her to what looks like an abandoned paint warehouse. He hides behind a wall as he sees her grab a small plank of wood and smash open the window of a door, letting herself into the building. Cautiously, he trails behind her. Looking into the building he makes sure the coast is clear before spatial jumping behind Lila. Lila turns on her heel to look at Five. He shoves his hands into his pockets and with a sarcastic smirk on his face he questions,

"What's your game, crazy lady?"

"Who cares? You said if you saw me again, you'd kill me." Lila comments

"Oh, I remember." Five states

"Well, come on, big talker. Let's get this done." Lila taunts

"All right." Five replies

Spatial jumping Five attempts to attack her from behind but somehow Lila anticipates his movement and roundhouse kicks him in the jaw knocking him backward. Five grabs his jaw and attempts to get up while Lila runs away. Five chases her down a corridor of the abandoned warehouse, spatial jumping in front of her stopping her in her tracks. He then rushes her, jumping into the air to kick her but she leans back and dodges his attack. Landing on his feet Five immediately spins backward to kick her and lands a hit on her jaw. The two of them go blow of blow landing some hits on each other and missing others. Taking a few steps back Lila jumps over a large piece of concrete and Five follows. Looking towards where she should be Five finds nothing. He stops in his tracks but then hears,

"I'm waiting."

Five looks over to where the voice came from and there across the room stood Lila. He looked at her confused. How did she get over there so quickly? That didn't matter. Five jumped over to where she would be but once again she was nowhere to be found. 

"Fed up yet, Five?" Lila mocks

Five turned to where the voice came from and there she was standing across the room again. Five stopped for longer and stared in her direction. The confusion and frustration of this situation built up inside of him. Looking around Five finds a pipe on the ground. Picking it up he spatial jumps over to where Lila was standing but instead of hitting her, he hits an electrical box. Turning around he sees her behind him and as she lifts one of her legs up to kick him he sweeps the other one out from under her making her fall to her back on the ground. Five then step on her neck keeping her in place. Through a choked voice Lila comments,

"You're better than I thought."

"And you are entirely average." Five belittles before calling "You can come out now."

Five can hear the familiar clacking of heels on the floor behind him. The Handler.

"Well done. You figured it out." The Handler says

"Well, it wasn't very hard. She fights like every one of you Commission drones." Five retorts, his focus still on keeping Lila down

"Hmm. No matter, here we are. Together again. I've gotta ask...did you miss me, you little shit?" The Handler questions

Five looks at her. His expression filled with subdued anger. There's a silence in the room except for the distorted laughter of Lila from the floor.

"You've got a good nose." The Handler comments

"You know, planting her in a psych ward, taking advantage of my simpleton brother, that was smart." Five replies sarcastically as he presses his foot down harder on Lila's throat causing her to struggle

"Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." The Handler states as she looks down at Lila

Five's head whips towards the Handler. 

"She's your..." Five starts to question

"Daughter. Yes. And she's my only one, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't crush her windpipe." The Handler answers

Lila continues to struggle but Five reluctantly lifts his foot off her throat letting her go free. She gasps for air as she stands up and makes her way to her mother's side. She then slowly approaches Five getting in his face and states,

"I am so going to enjoy killing you someday."

"Lila, darling, would you give us a minute, please?" The Handler requests

"Yes, the grown-ups need to talk." Five adds with a cocky smile

Lila looks to her mother in hopes that she changes her mind but to no avail. Lila rolls her eyes and walks away to the other side of the room annoyed, angrily flipping a piece of metal so that it clatters to the ground. When Lila is far enough away Five takes a step closer to the Handler and in a low voice asks,

"What is it you want?"

"Do you like jazz, Five?" The Handler asks back

"I'd rather lick a cheese grater." Five retorts

"Aww. Jazz is like a beautiful woman. Complex, emotional, hard to please. She doesn't just give it to you...she makes you work for it." The Handler explains as she walks around the room

Five places his hands in his pockets and turns on his heel to face her. Keeping his distance he replies,

"I have no experience with the type of woman you're talking about so I'm really hoping that  
you're going somewhere with this analogy."

The Handler walks back over to him and with a smile adds,

"Under my leadership, the Commission would sound more like...jazz."

"And what about the board of directors?" Five questions critically getting up in her face

"Well, that's where you come in." The Handler replies tapping his nose with her pointer finger

Five takes a step back away from her and cocks his head to the side. In a firm tone, he states,

"Nope. No, it isn't."

The Handler walks around Five to the space behind him and elaborates,

"In exchange for the assassination of the board, I'm willing to get you, your family, and that girlfriend you love so dearly out of this timeline and back to 2019 where you belong."

"And what about World War III that's due to kick off in just a few days?" Five inquires turning to look at her

"Once you, your girlfriend, and your siblings are gone, that goes away."

"And the apocalypse when we get back to 2019?"

"That too."

Five leans in looking at her critically. The cynic in him was screaming about the nonchalant nature of her statements. This was a woman who would do anything for power so Five knew there was some type of plan she had in her head. In a lowered voice Five angrily criticizes,

"I distinctly remember you telling me that that apocalypse had to happen, that it was supposed to happen."

The Handler walks around Five once more so she is directly behind him. As she walks she explains,

"Back then I was toeing the company line, but once I'm in charge..."

The Handler then presses herself up against Five's back leans in closer to his ear. Five didn't like how close she was and tensed up as he felt her against him. 

We can riff." The Handler whispered in his ear

Five took a step forward putting a small amount of distance between the two as he stated,

"Jazz."

"Exactly." The Handler replies as she walks in front of him again

Five turns and walks away from her scratching the back of his neck. Taking a breath he turns back around to face her, a sizable distance now between them. Looking at the Handler, Five questions,

"What about the board of directors, hmm? I mean, nobody knows who they are."

"Correct. But once every fiscal quarter, they get together for a board meeting."

"Where?" Five asks looking at her curiously

"The question is when. They meet somewhere in the timeline but never in the same place twice. The exact location and date of these board meetings is the most closely-guarded secret in the Commission."

Five looks around, an unsurprised smirk appearing across his face. He turns away for a second as he comments,

"But you know where it's gonna be, don't you?"

"Would I be any good at what I do if I didn't? Listen Five, don't think about it as killing the board for me, think about it as getting to live out the rest of your newfound life with (Y/N)."

With the sound of your name leaving her mouth and hitting his ears he quickly turns on his heel to face her. A wave of adrenaline and anger coursed through his veins as he flashed closer to her. He stared her down with malicious intent as he demanded,

"How do you know her name."

"Oh calm down Five. I work for the commission how could I not? Truly, your love story is one for the ages, don't you think?" The Handler remarks in a cheery yet malevolent tone

She walks towards him that facade of kindness and charity not fooling him in the slightest. As she walks around him she details in that false-kind tone,

"Two best friends fall in love at a young age before being separated for years on end. You witness her death and swear to go back and prevent it with only some book and a necklace to remember her by. How sweet."

As she comes back to stand directly in front of him she comments,

"I bet you're wearing that necklace right now, aren't you?"

Indeed he was. Hiding under the shirt his academy uniform was the locket you had given him all those years ago. Unconsciously, when she mentioned it he brought his hand up to cover where it rested as if trying to protect it from her. Trying to protect you from her. Five lets out an angered huff before commanding firmly,

"You leave her out of this. Whatever game you're trying to play is between you and me."

"Fine. But remember, doomsday's right around the corner, and the way things are going, I'm your only option to save her." 

Five takes a step towards her and looks her dead in the eyes. 

"Not yet you aren't."

And without another word, he flashes away. He was going to get you and his family out of here and he was going to do it without her help.

You on the other hand had gone outside to look for him but he was nowhere to be found. As you turned and walked back towards Elliott's place you mumbled to yourself,

"Hopefully it doesn't take him four years to get back."

Teleporting yourself inside the building you can hear Charlie say,

"And then when I was ten my mom died and my dad hired a nanny to take care of me instead of you know doing it himself. Because he sucks."

"I wish you could hear me because you are so right!" You can hear Ben yell back

You smirk a little at two of your friends hanging out and bonding over shitty dads. You still couldn't relate but it was funny to hear them so passionate about it. Transporting yourself upstairs you tell the two of them,

"Can't find him."

"Well, the good news is he's like a boomerang. He always comes back." Charlie replies cheerfully before adding "I don't blame him though. That family meeting was shit."

"He has a point. It was so bad." Ben comments

You plop down on the couch across from the two of them and ask aloud,

"When was the last time we actually had a good family gathering?"

"Our 13th birthday party," Ben answers just a little too fast

He wasn't wrong though. Granted, you had never been to a family gathering again until Reginald's funeral but from that experience, you were sure that there were probably plenty of awful gatherings before as well. 

"I guess it was better than it could've gone though. It was mainly a lot of arguing and only one murder attempt this time." You comment

"You base how well a gathering goes on how many attempted murders there are?" Charlie questions

"Partially," you answer 

"I say this with the utmost respect but y'all are fucked up." Charlie states

"Yeah. I know." You reply nodding your head 

You kick your feet up on the coffee table trying to find some type of relaxation after all of the mess that had occurred. It had felt like a week's worth of activities was shoved into less than 24 hours. If only you could put a stop to this whole apocalypse mess. You lean back more on the couch and as you do so Ben asks,

"So you've been living with my dad in this time?"

"Yup. I didn't choose it though, it was more of just a domino effect of events. Dropped in the alley, found by mom, who was an actual person in the '60s surprisingly, we met your dad, human mom adopted me, human mom started dating your dad, and then we just permanently moved in with him." You explain "But it's alright, I typically just hang out with Charlie and we avoid people most of the time so it's been fine. Right, Charlie?"

"It's decent," Charlie says with a shit-eating grin

Ben gets a laugh from Charlie's impersonal response and you roll your eyes.

"Okay, wow." you respond sarcastically before turning to Ben and asking "What have you been up to Ben?"

"Reluctantly following Klaus and his cult around for the past 3 years because I had nowhere else to go."

"You know I'm both surprised and not surprised that Klaus started a cult." You respond

"From what you told me it seems pretty on-brand for him (Y/N)," Charlie says

"Well, he rolled the highest charisma stat of the family." You responded

"Huh?" Ben questions

"Don't worry about it. It's not important. Just an old D&D reference that my friends would get." You reply to him, your voice dropping off

You missed your friends. You missed a lot of things from 2019 but the experiences and memories with them are what you missed most of all. You loved being with Charlie and you wouldn't trade his friendship for anything but it was the little things like weekly D&D or going out and wrecking criminals or Wii Just Dance competitions that you wished you had back. You had to get out of this timeline at some point so you hoped you'd see them again.

"So where have you been staying now since you've been back in Dallas, Ben?" Charlie questions somehow forgetting he can't hear the response

"The cult has a sprawling estate in the more affluential part of Dallas. It's been pretty abandoned but we're all back now." Ben answers also forgetting that Charlie can't hear him

Charlie and Ben stare at each other in silence waiting for someone to say something. You snap out of your thoughts and burst out laughing realize what was going on. It was even funnier because while you could see Ben looking back you knew anyone else viewing this would see Charlie just staring off in the distance. Through your laughs, you chime in,

"Charlie, you can't hear him, remember?"

"Oh right," Charlie replies with a small chuckle

"Anyway, he's living in the abandoned estate near our houses. I guess it's not so abandoned anymore though since the whole cult is back."

"Oh, so that's whose cult lived by us. Small world I guess." Charlie says

"It must be interesting living with a cult." You remark

"It's a mess," Ben replies

"A mess? It can't be that bad can it?" You question

"You should stop by and visit tomorrow. See it for yourself." Ben suggests

"Well, we'll have to see where the day goes tomorrow given the...everything." You explain gesturing vaguely

You were about to say more when you suddenly felt a quick flash of disturbance. It was a familiar feeling and knew exactly what it correlated to. Turning your attention towards the downstairs portion of the building you called out,

"Five, is that you?"

After an unfortunate encounter with the Handler, Five was in a poor mood, to say the least. But there was just something about the sound of you calling his name that made him feel a bit better. A small smile came to his face and he spatial jumped once more up to the top part of Elliott's building. He saw you sitting on the couch and asked,

"How did you know I was back?"

"I can feel the disturbance of your spatial jumps. Feels like the back of my neck got flicked."

"Ah, I see." He replies

He then walks over to the couch you were on and sits right down next to you. Wrapping one arm around your shoulders he pulls you closer and places a soft kiss on your temple making you blush.

"Where did you go, Five?" Charlie questions

"Unfortunately, I had a run-in with Diego's crazy girlfriend and found out her mom is my former boss." Five explains

"So she wasn't just some random girl. She was a plant." You comment

"Yes. She was trying to get to me the whole time." Five adds

"Of course Diego would be the type to fall for a plant," Ben said sarcastically

You rolled your eyes but he had a point. You loved your brother dearly and in many cases, he was very tactile and smart but when it came to women and his emotions he had some room for improvement. As you all sat there you could hear the phone ring from the other room. Charlie promptly gets up and goes to answer it.

"Hello? Oh hi. Yes, I can put her on the phone." Charlie says before calling a bit louder "(Y/N) it's for you."

You were curious as to who could be calling you so you got up from the couch and headed into the kitchen with Five following along behind you. Taking the phone from Charlie you place it to your ear and say,

"Hello?"

"Oh, (Y/N) sweetie it's so good to hear your voice! Charlie had called last night but said that you had gone to bed already. I was so worried about you. Are you doing alright?" Your mom asked

"Yes mom, I'm doing alright," you responded

"Oh thank goodness. Listen, Charlie's dad said it's safe for the two of you to come back home." Your mom added

"Oh, okay. I'll let him know. We'll be back soon." You reply

"Okay, sweetie! I love you!"

"Love you too Mom."

You hang up the phone and turn around to look at the group of people behind you. Focusing your attention on Charlie you tell him,

"Your dad said it's safe for us to go back home."

"Oh." Charlie says "That's unfortunate."

"Very." You reply with a sigh

Everything was moving so fast. You had just gotten your boyfriend and you barely got to spend any time with him. Sure you two had a few sweet moments together but with the looming threat of the apocalypse again you didn't know how many more you'd get and when. Your poor mother though. She probably stayed up all night worried about you. You didn't want to prolong that worry because it wasn't something she deserved. You turn your attention to Five and place a hand on his cheek. 

"I swear we never get enough time together," you say as you look into his eyes

Five wrap his arms lightly around your waist and looks at you with love in his eyes.

"No time is ever enough time with you, ma chérie."

"Perhaps you're right," you comment

"I know I am." He jokes

You roll your eyes at him. Even in the most chaotic of times he always managed to make your heart skip a beat. 

"Well, I better head out then." You state

Five leans down and places a kiss on the top of your head, holding you closer in the process. Oh, how you loved this boy. Tilting your head up you placed a peck to his cheek before slowly leaving his embrace. Gently, you pull your hand back from his cheek and see how he leans into your touch. You smile at him,

"I'll see you soon my love." 

"As soon as can be." He replies

You and Charlie then started to make your way out of the building with Five following the two of you until you reached the door. You looked back at him one more time before finally exiting and making your way to Charlie's car. The two of you get in the car and Charlie drives the way back to your house. When you arrive, you both exit the car and head inside. You had barely stepped through the door when your mom threw her arms around you pulling you into a tight hug in the same manner as when you came home after your car being shot up only a few days before. Your poor mother having to deal with so much stress about your safety in only a few days' time. You wouldn't wish this on anyone. 

"I'm so glad you're okay, sweetie." Your mom exclaims

"Me too, mom." You reply

From the corner of your eye, you can see Reginald approaching you all. You let go of your mother and turn to face him along with Charlie and your mom.

"I see that you managed to bring her back safely," Reginald says to Charlie

"Yes. Not a scratch on her, sir." Charlie states

"Very well. It's pleasant to have you back at the manor (Y/N)." Reginald states

"Thank you." You reply flatly

You all stood there for a second but you didn't want to be there much longer. Trying to make a quick getaway you start to walk towards the stairs but look back at the others saying,

"I think I'm going to change out of this gala dress and into something more comfortable so I can relax after such a day of tension. How about you go home and do the same Charlie and then we can all have dinner together." 

"Sure, that sounds like a good idea. I'll be back." He says before leaving the manor and heading to his car

You continue to walk while looking towards your mom and Reginald and accidentally bump into Marie causing her to drop a piece of paper on the ground. Bending over you pick up the paper as she profusely apologizes to you. Quickly, you skim over the paper and see what it reads.

_From the Office of Sir Reginald Hargreeves_

_To My Pursuers:_

_I, Reginald Hargreeves, request the pleasure of your company for a light supper on the 20th of November, 1963, at half-past seven o'clock._

_1624 Magnolia Street Dallas, Texas_

You knew that location and you had a strong hunch of who those pursuers that were being addressed were. Looks like you knew what you were doing at 7:30 pm tomorrow. You hand the letter back to Marie and accept her apologies saying that you were not paying attention to where you were going before heading upstairs to your room. The rest of the night went on without a hitch and as usual, Charlie slept over for the night. The two of you stayed up late as you discussed the events that had occurred in prior days and how the dots were starting to connect together. You also detailed the letter you had read and your plans for the following day. 

That was not a smart decision though as it led to both of you sleeping in significantly late. By the time you two woke up, it was already the afternoon. Trying to make sure you were able to do everything you wanted to do, you both quickly got ready ate a small meal, and sped off down the road towards Klaus' cult estate. Both of you had wanted to see it in person and wondered what went on behind the closed doors. And you were already invited by Ben to see the chaos of cult life so why would you turn such an invitation down. As you approached the driveway to the estate Charlie slowed the car down. Turning into the driveway Charlie carefully approached the building. Once you were close enough to it you stepped out of the car and walked the short distance to the entrance as you did so a woman in loose blue clothing and a flower crown noticed the two of you and smiles.

"Hello, friends! Are you here to meet the prophet?" She asks in a kind voice

"Why yes, we are." Charlie states

"A spirit of your prophet invited us to come today." You add

"How lovely! Please follow me." She instructs

The two of you look at each other before following the woman inside the house and down a corridor. As you follow her you see lines of people kneeling on opposite sides of a door. Some are playing taborines while others hold baskets in their hands. Suddenly, the doors to a room open and you watch as Klaus walks out of the room in only his underwear. That was not a sight you ever thought you would have to see and yet, you did. The followers who held baskets in their hands threw flower petals at Klaus. Whatever was going on had barely even started but you could see why Ben had called it a mess. You and Charlie approach a little closer and see a large room filled with people in blue clothing sitting on the floor. You and Charlie give each other a side-eye glance before looking back at the scene before you;

"Okay, thank you. Sit down. My name is Klaus, and I am an alcoho...Sorry, that's the wrong meeting." Klaus starts

Klaus lets out a nervous laugh but the group is unfazed. You watch as the followers look on with eager eyes as they listen to every word he says. Realizing he needs to say something Klaus continues,

"Uh, in my walkabout, I did a lot of thinking, searching, ruminating, and there's something that I'd like to share with all of you. I'm a fraud. Yeah, I- I've been lying to all of you from- from the start, and, uh...I'm a complete and total fraud."  
  
You can see Klaus look over to Ben after finishing his statement and Ben giving him back an acceptable nod. The crowd murmurs to themselves but not long after one man stands up from the crowd and looks around at the others.  
  
"Me too. I- I'm a fraud too." The man says

"What is going on?" Charlie whispers to you

"I don't know." you reply quietly

The man approaches Klaus and knees before him continuing,

"I'm the worst kind of fraud. I- I am a fraud to myself. But your scriptures say, _As long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive_."

"He used the song _I Will Survive_ by Gloria Gaynor as his "scripture" to these people. I bet he did, I bet he stole it." You comment quietly to Charlie

Right after you finish your statement to Charlie, Klaus replies to the man,  
  
"But that's not scripture. Okay? That's a song lyric by disco diva Gloria Gaynor, and I stole it!"

"Called it." You state

The crowd murmurs the name Gloria Gaynor to each other in confusion as they wait for Klaus to speak more. Klaus didn't know what to say though and you could see him cracking under the pressure of trying to admit his falseness to the group.

"Look, eh, you guys don't wanna follow me. I can't lead you anywhere. I'm not a guru, I'm not a messiah, I'm...I'm a...fraud! And I don't know what I'm doing up here. I- I don't. I'm just, you know...making it up as we...You- You people should all just...go back to your families." Klaus rambles

The man who had kneeled in front of Klaus before could be heard crying. Letting out a sigh Klaus approaches the man, places his hands on the back of his neck so he will look at him, and in a hushed tone states,  
  
"Keechie...Stop, stop, stop, stop. Look, look, look at me in the face, okay? It's okay. It's okay, though. Listen. Everything is gonna be okay. Okay?"  
  
"I understand." The man replies

"Good," Klaus says  
  
"When we admit our own fraudulence, only then can we experience true humility." The man continues  
  
"No, no, no, no, no, no! That's not what I meant. It's not what I meant." Klaus exclaims turning to the group

All the members one by one stand up exclaiming aloud how they are a fraud. You look across the hall and see Ben there standing with a shocked face. As Klaus climbs up the few stairs to stand in the archway again the lady who had brought you into the house approaches Klaus and says,

"Prophet, two visitors have come to see you."

Klaus takes a look in your direction and sees you and Charlie standing there. Opening his arms wide he exclaims with a smile on his face,

"(Y/N)! Come here!"

Reluctantly, you approach him and bring him into a hug. It was quite awkward given the fact he was only in his underwear but yet it was kind of sweet. Even with all the stuff he had done and was currently doing he was still the same Klaus you knew as a kid. You could hear as the crowd of followers went from exclaiming their fraudulence to quiet whispers.

"What brings you and your friend here (Y/N)?" Klaus asks

"We were invited by a spirit of yours," you answer

Klaus takes a look over towards Ben before replying,

"Must've been the pushy and annoying spirit that dragged you here."

"Prophet, who is this (Y/N)?" Keechie asks

"Ah. (Y/N) is my...soul sister..." Klaus lies "We have walked similar paths in life, seen similar things, and although we were physically separated as children our souls are intertwined."

There are oohs and ahhs that come from the crowd of people in the room before you and from behind you, you can hear Charlie trying to stifle laughter. Turning to look at him you shoot him a death glare. This was not entertaining.

"Oh soul sister to the prophet, do you have wisdom of your own that you can bless upon us?" Keechie asks as he kneels before you

"Oh jeez..." You mumble pinching the bridge of your nose "what did I get myself into?"

"Klaus, don't put (Y/N) through this." Ben comments from the sidelines

"Uh..." Klaus says "Hey soul sister, do you have anything for them?"

"Oh my god, Klaus," Ben complains

From behind you, you can hear Charlie start a slow chant,

"Knowledge. Knowledge. Knowledge."

You whip towards him and exclaim,

"Charlie!"

He does not stop though, instead, he just continues to chant and encourages the followers until all of them are chanting,

"Knowledge! Knowledge! Knowledge!"

"Fine!" You exclaim

All the people in the room quiet down and look at you intently. Taking a deep breath you wrack your brain for something to tell them. Completely bullshitting this whole ordeal you take a page out of Klaus' playbook and start to quote a song lyric,

"If you're lost...you can look, and you will find me. Time after time. If you fall...I will catch you. I'll be waiting. Time after time."

You then turn to Klaus and simultaneously you both repeat,

"Time after time."

When the two of you finish there is an uproar of cheers. People excitedly repeat the "knowledge" that you had blessed them with to themselves and to each other. These people were so brainwashed, it was ridiculous. 

"What the fuck..." You say to yourself

"Yeah, I know." Klaus responds "How about I go put on some clothes and give the two of you a tour?"

"Why not? I guess..." You reply confused

Klaus goes and puts clothes on but as he does so many of the members of his cult come up and bow before you or touch you. it was odd, to say the least, and you definitely wanted it to stop. When Klaus came back out with his clothes he told the members to disperse as he took you by one arm and Charlie by the other showing you around. the estate was nice, but every time you ran into a member they'd look at you and Klaus in odd reverence. After what felt like forever you and Charlie decided that it was time to leave and never come back. You said goodbye to Klaus and waved goodbye to Ben, although you were sure that you would see them quite soon. Making your way back to Charlie's car you saw another person walking up towards the estate building. You can see Charlie's expression change from neutral to surprised.

"Hey, Dave." Charlie greets slightly confused

"Oh hey, Charlie. How are ya?" Dave asks

"Doing pretty well. How about you? The hardware business treating you well?" Charlie replies

"It's going well. I'm actually joining the army. Shipping off in about a week." Dave answers "But who's this Charlie? Your girlfriend?"

"Oh no she has a boyfriend already. This is my close friend (Y/N). (Y/N) this is Dave, we went to high school together but he was a grade above me. He was one of the only people who was nice to me." Charlie says

You extend your hand out to shake his and he grabs your hand shaking back.

"I haven't seen you around before are you new to the area?" Dave asks

"Oh, I dropped into Dallas about four years ago. I live with my mom and her partner down the road." You explain

"Well, it's very nice to meet you (Y/N). It's unfortunate we didn't get to meet sooner, but hopefully when I get back you, Charlie, and I can all talk and get some floats down at the diner." Dave says in a cheerful tone

This poor boy. He's so sweet and innocent. You just met him and you wished you could stop him from going off to war. Especially since he was probably head to Vietnam. It was an unnecessary war. All of the proxy wars were bullshit but you couldn't do much about it. You put on a smile as best as you can.

"That sounds lovely. I look forward to it." you comment "But we must get going, I have a family dinner to attend to, and I really don't want to be late."

"Alright, well it was nice to see you Charlie, and nice to meet you (Y/N). Hope you have a nice dinner." Dave says

"Thank you." You respond

"Thanks, Dave," Charlie adds

With that Dave heads off towards the mansion and you and Charlie head towards the car. When the two of you get into the car Charlie comments sarcastically,

"Oh, I _dropped_ into Dallas about four years ago. Real clever."

"Shut up and drive." you retort 

Charlie rolls his eyes with a smirk on his face and pulls out of the driveway heading towards the hotel where the dinner would be taking place. 

While you were headed towards the Southland Life hotel, Five had already arrived. He looked down at his invitation to make sure he was at the right place but once he had done so he headed towards the entrance and inside the building. Making his way up an ornate staircase he looked around a bit before finding the elevator. Calling the elevator, the doors opened and Five stepped inside. He looked at the panel of floor buttons before pressing one of them and waited for the doors to close. None of his siblings had shown up. He was going to have to deal with the old man alone. He was prepared to do so...somewhat. But still, he had hoped for him and his siblings to go together to confront him. Five stared off as the elevators started to close trying to build up the confidence to face his father after all these years. He wished you could've been there by his side, but you had no reason to be invited, you weren't a "pursuer". Right as the doors were about to shut a hand comes in to bring the doors back open. 

"Wait up." Diego says entering the elevator  
  
"Hold it." Allison adds  
  
"Hey, everyone." Klaus greets drunkenly

Vanya enters the elevator silently as Luther follows quietly saying,  
  
"Excuse me."

Five looks around at his siblings. They all came. Five faces forward and a small smile appears.

"Good. We're all here." He says

Five's face returns to a neutral expression as the elevator doors finally close and they head up the floors to where they would be meeting their father. As they do an awful smell starts to spread within the elevator.   
  
"Oh..." Allison says

"Oof." Five complains as he pinches his nose closed

"Luther!" Klaus exclaims

"Oh, my God." Vanya comments  
  
"Sorry, I'm nervous." Luther apologizes

When the doors open to the floor everyone rushes out trying to get away from the toxic environment inside the elevator. Walking into the tiki bar where they were meeting the siblings catch their breath and take in some clean air. As they all make their way around the table in the center of the room Five turns to his siblings and says,  
  
"All right, when Dad gets here, I'll do the talking, okay?"  
  
"Got a few questions for him myself." Diego responds

"Hey, we don't wanna scare him off. He might be able to help us stop doomsday, get us home." Five retorts annoyed  
  
"No, we need to figure out why he's planning to kill the president."

It was ridiculous that he was still continuing on with this whole "Dad is going to kill Kennedy" thing. Could he not give it up for a day? For an hour? Of course not. That would require some form of critical thinking, of which he had none.  
  
"This is a matter of life and death, you imbecile." Five chastises   
  
"Okay, yeah, maybe we should take turns talking. Yeah?" Vanya suggests picking up something from a nearby table "Here, whoever has got this conch shell gets to talk."  
  
"Vanya, we don't have time for a debate, okay?" Five replies already frustrated at the group  
  
"Maybe I should lead. We all know I'm a better public speaker than the rest." Allison suggests grabbing the conch from Vanya  
  
"Okay, Daddy's girl." Diego comments sarcastically  
  
"Oh, jealous, Number Two?" Allison retorts  
  
"Hey, no more numbers. No more bullshit." Diego demands as he approaches Allison  
  
"Uh, Diego. You don't have the conch." Luther mentions politely

Diego gives Luther a smile before grabbing the conch from Allison's hand. Once he fully has it though he quickly proceeds to throw it at a wall smashing it to pieces.  
  
"Classic." Allison comments, rolling her eyes

As the siblings argued upstairs you had just arrived at the building. Charlie had parked around the back so you wouldn't be seen by anybody who may have arrived for this meeting. Before you got out of the car Charlie questions,

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I should be there. Whatever is happening is important and I should know about it." You reply

"This is going to be a family gathering but with Reginald. I can only assume it will go worse than the events of yesterday. Do you really want to deal with that?" Charlie asks confused

"No. But I feel I need to be there. This an issue for all eight of us."

"Okay, but how are you going to get in unnoticed? You weren't invited after all." Charlie inquires

You step out of the car but lean down so you can look at him through the window.

"I'll just go in invisible. I'll only reveal myself if necessary."

"Alright. I'm going to go park a block away on North Griffin Street. Come find me after." Charlie says before adding "Good luck."

"Thanks. I'll need it." you respond

You stand up and watch Charlie drive away for a bit before turning to face the building. You take a breath before turning invisible and making your way inside. Taking the back entrance you head up towards the lobby and press the button to call the private elevator. You had been here plenty of times before for various meetings and parties that Reginald had to attend so you knew your way around pretty easily. Any regular person would take the main one but in a side hallway, there was a special one used for grand entrances. Thinking that everyone must already be up there you knew that you could get in relatively unnoticed by using this elevator. When the doors open you stepped in and turned around, but as you were about press the close door button Reginald walked into the elevator. 

Shit. 

You sucked in your breath quickly and covered your mouth trying to be as quiet as possible. You couldn't be found out. Not like this at least. Quietly you moved to the left of the elevator and tried to stay out of the way. Reginald reached for the button to the tiki bar floor and soon enough the doors closed and the elevator starts to rise. When the elevator doors open Reginald quickly storms out of the elevator pushing through the private entrance doors. Still invisible you slip out of the elevator and through the door. As you enter the tiki bar you can see the shocked faces of all the Hargreeves children present. It had been a long time since any of them had actually interacted with their father. You head over to a seat near the table as you watch the scene unfold before you. Reginald approaches the table that the rest of them were surrounding and takes a seat. Once most of the Hargreeves had sat down as well he criticizes,

"Not only have you burglarized my lab, set my chimp loose, conned your way into the Mexican consulate, repeatedly stalked and attacked me, but you have, on numerous occasions, called me..."

He is cut off by Klaus though who sits down with a drink and greets,  
  
"Hey, Pop. How's it hangin'?"

Reginald looks over at Klaus annoyed before finishing his statement,

"Dad."

He looks back to the group and continues,  
  
"My reconnaissance tells me you're not CIA, not KGB, certainly not MI5, so who are you?"

There are a lot of deep breaths and looks off to the side. Saying they were his kids was probably a more difficult task than it looked from the outside. You could see your boyfriend shifting nervously in his chair as you then realized this was the first time he was face to face with Reginald since he ran away. Quietly, you approach him and place a gentle hand on his shoulder. You can feel him jump slightly as he turns his head back to see what was there. He looks confused for a second as he sees nothing but you squeeze his shoulder reassuringly and he realizes that it's you there with him. You just couldn't be seen. As no one continues to answer Five turns back to face his father and speaks up for the rest of the group,  
  
"We're your children. We're from the future. In 1989, you adopted us all and trained us to fight against the end of the world. Called us the Umbrella Academy."

You notice as Klaus drunkenly raises his martini glass after Five mentions the academy. What an odd thing to cheers. Then again you went and saw the cult that Klaus ran and compared to that it wasn't as odd.  
  
"Why on earth would I adopt six-" Reginald starts to question but is cut off by Allison

"Seven." Allison corrects "One of us isn't here."

"Dead. One of us is dead." Diego solemnly adds

Five reaches up and places his hand on top of your invisible one. To others, it just looked like he was touching his shoulder but really he was reaching to you. He was glad that he had you there with him. From not too far away you can see Ben sitting at a table behind Klaus.  
  
"Dead, yes, but I'm here. Klaus!" Ben exclaims to him

Klaus turns to what looks like empty space but is really where Ben is and says,  
  
"Yeah, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba."

"Tell them I'm here!" Ben demands  
  
"Enough of that now." Klaus retorts

Reginald and the rest of the Hargreeves look on at Klaus' unexplained behavior. When Klaus turns back around Reginald looks at the group once more and harshly asks,

"Regardless, what would possess me to adopt seven ill-mannered malcontents?"  
  
"We all have special abilities." Five elaborates  
  
"Special? In what sense?" Reginald inquires  
  
"In the superpower sense." Luther adds

Reginald sits up straight, a stern look on his face as he critically remarks,

"Called me old-fashioned, but I'm a stickler for a pesky little thing called evidence. Show me."  
  
"Everybody wants to see powers all of a sudden..." Allison complains taking a sip from her drink  
  
"We're not circus animals, okay? We're not gonna bounce balls on our noses and clap our hands like seals for your amusement." Luther retorts

Immediately, Diego pulls out one of his knives and throws it forward redirecting it so it just barely passes Reginald and lands in a wooden post across the room. You could tell by the look on Diego's face that he was frustrated. Reginald looks down at the notebook he had brought with him and starts to jot down notes. All of the Hargreeves lean in to try and see what was being written down.  
  
"What are you writing?" Diego asks  
  
"You are zero for two, young man." Reginald taunts

Quickly, Diego stands up and tries to make his way over to but Five flashes in front of him. Putting his hands up to hold Diego back he whispers to him,  
  
"Stop!"

"Now that is interesting," Reginald states as he looks on surprised

Diego sits himself back down and you decide to go sit at the bar. From the way things were going you felt it could get messy and you didn't want to be a part of that.   
  
"All right, uh, quick rundown. Luther: super strength. Klaus can commune with the dead. Allison can rumor anyone to do anything." Five starts to explain as he heads back to his seat  
  
"Except she never uses it." Diego jabs

Allison turns angrily to Diego and rumors,  
  
"I heard a rumor you punched yourself in the face."

As the rumor said Diego punched himself in the face.  
  
"Aah! Damn it!" He cried out

Allison slurps on her drink and gives him a pointed look even if he wasn't looking back. Five uses his hand to gesture to Reginald his point about Allison's power. Reginald then turns to Vanya and questions,  
  
"And you?"  
  
"Uh, maybe we don't take Vanya for a test run," Luther interjects  
  
"Oh, yeah, that's probably not a good idea," Klaus adds  
  
"It's fine. I can handle it." Vanya replies

"Handle it? Last time you handled it, you definitely blew up the moon." Allison states

Vanya doesn't listen though and instead picks up a spoon from the table and brings it back. Her siblings watch on as she brings it forward to hit it against her cup.  
  
"No, Vanya, don't!" Five exclaims

Vanya does not stop though and hits the cup causing a soundwave to ring out. Focusing the sound energy on the plate of fruit in front of her she causes it to explode. The fruit splatters onto everyone, except you since you had walked away. But although you didn't get hit with the fruit you did get hit with the soundwave. Doubling over from the pain of the disturbance the soundwave had created bite your tongue not trying to make any immediate sounds to alert the others to your presence. You would only become visible if it was necessary. Taking some quiet breaths, you sit on the bartop and are able to get back to normal and focus again.  
  
"Oops," Vanya says softly as everyone wipes the fruit off of them  
  
"That was impressive." Luther comments  
  
"Look, we know that you're involved in a plot to assassinate the president," Diego explains getting up from his chair

"You were recently hospitalized, isn't that correct? You still appear to be suffering from delusions of grandeur and acute paranoia." Reginald rebukes  
  
"Am I? Explain this." Diego retorts as he pulls out a photo of Reginald and shows it to him "That's you. That's two days from now on the grassy knoll at the exact spot the president's gonna get shot."

Reginald takes a glance at the photo before looking back up at Diego and commenting,  
  
"Well, I suppose you've solved it. You've single-handedly unearthed my nefarious plot."

You can see a slight glimpse of hope in Diego's eyes but it's cut short as Reginald ridicules,

"Is that what you want to hear? You fancy yourself a do-gooder? The last good man who will save us from our descent into corruption and conspiracy? This is a fantastic delusion. The sad reality is that you're a desperate man, tragically unaware of his own insignificance, desperately clinging to his own ineffectual reasoning. More succinctly, a man in over his head."

From the bar, you watch as the light in Diego's eyes slowly starts to fade and is overtaken by sadness and disappointment. Slowly he sits down more and more as Reginald's words cut deeper. You had seen them look on his face many times before, it was the same expression he would take as a child after Reginald harshly criticized him. Anger began to rise in you as you saw the trauma of his time in the academy and the feeling of not being good enough take over him. When Diego sits back in his seat he looks directly at Reginald and stutters out sadly,  
  
"You're wr-wrong."

Reginald ignores this though and starts to continue,

"Furthermore-"

You were done with this man and his mistreatment of your brother. Nobody talked to him like that. Not on your watch. Quickly, you whip out a knife and throw it in the direction of Reginald having it land in the spot on the table in front of him. The group all looks at the knife in shock.

"Enough." You yelled

They all turn to look at you. Jumping down from where you were sitting on the bar you slowly walk over towards the table.

"That was a warning, so I'd choose your next words carefully. I have nine more of those on my person and if you recall my 20th birthday" You firmly state "I don't miss."

Everyone was shocked to see you there, but most of all was Reginald.

"What are you doing here? You weren't invited to this affair." He demands

"Oh Reggie, I think it's highly important for me to be here." You say in a sarcastic tone

"How did you even get in here?" He questions

"I took the elevator with you." You explain "And then I sat around here for a while."

"Impossible. I didn't see you." He retorts

"You know Reggie, for someone who touts his intelligence you really can't put two and two together can you?" You sneer  
  
"Whatever do you mean?"

"I really have to spell it out for you, huh?" You say as you take steps closer to him "I'm. One. Of them."

"Oh really? So what can you do then?" Reginald asks in an insulting tone

"I can do a lot of things."

"Well go on then." He requests

You then start to explain your powers to Reginald. He didn't deserve an explanation but you did want to shove your abilities in his face.

"Well, there's a plethora of things I can do. You already know I can go invisible." You say as you make yourself disappear

"I can jump from place to place on a whim." You continue as you hop to different spots around the room

I can go through things and things can go through me." You add as you walk through the tables and walls around the room

"I can make things denser or lighter. Luther catch." You say as you throw him a glass

He catches it but is immediately pinned down to the ground and can't get up. You walk over to him and pick up the glass before turning back to Reginald. 

"I can change the state of matter of an object." You explain as you turn the glass into a liquid and smoke before turning it back to normal and placing it on an adjacent table

"Hell, I can make things blow up by just thinking about it enough." You add with a smile as the glass blows up behind you

"I can create fire and water and smoke out of practically nothing. And I can see and feel disturbances in the world. I can do just about anything and you know why?" You ask rhetorically

"Why?" Reginald asks as he vigorously writes down notes

"Because I can control the things that make up this entire world. Molecules." you finish before adding "Was my demonstration to your satisfaction, _sir_?"

"Perhaps. Though, I am appalled that you were living under my roof for years and said nothing of your abilities."

"Why would I tell you about my abilities? You work with government. I wasn't about to be sent away to the MK Ultra project or used as a weapon of war. Now, let me get a drink before we really jump into things." You state walking over to the bar

"Absolutely not. What have I told you about drinking?" Reginald calls

"Yeah yeah, _your mind is like a gold statue alcohol will only dull the brilliance_ , yadda yadda yadda." You mock "I'm still getting a drink."

"No." He demands firmly

The Hargreeves look back and forth between you and their father. The conversation between the two of you was contentious and yet there was something off about the way Reginald talked to you.

"And why not Sir Buzzkill?" You retort

"Because I'm your father and you'll respect my wishes." He states

And there it was. Reginald saw you as his kid. The way he was talking to you was odd because he was talking to you...like a parent. All the real Hargreeves children look on in shock. Their eyes wide and their jaws dropped at what he has said. There's a lull of silence before you burst out laughing.

"HA! You're not my dad. I have a dad. He's dead, but I have one." You say in an amused tone 

You then head towards the bar and start looking through the drinks as you complain,

"Just because I live with you or you're dating my mom doesn't make me your kid. You tried to do this before, numbered your kids one through seven based on how much you liked them pretty much, and then were like _you're number zero because it comes before one_. No. I'm not a number. I'm not your favorite kid. I'm not your kid at all. I'm (Y/N)."

When you finally find something good, you grab a glass and start to pour it as you continue,

"Furthermore, If I were your child, I would've turned out like those sitting before you. The closest you'll probably ever get is the unfortunate title of father-in-law."

There's silence once more as everyone takes what you said in. You take a sip of your drink as Reginald looks on taken aback.

" _You_..." he inquires confused "are partnered with one of _them_?"

Grabbing your drink you walk over towards the table as you say,

"Yes I am and I don't appreciate that comparison type tone you used when saying that."

You continue to walk and go stand behind Five, placing a hand on his shoulder once more. You take a sip of your drink before adding,

"Honestly I'm surprised you're not happier. A woman of _my_ stature coupled with one of _your_ sons? And might I add, he's the most competent of your sons."

"Hey!" Diego exclaims

"When you decide to leave JFK alone I will reconsider." You reply

"Look, forget about the president. We have a catastrophic war coming in five days. We need to figure out how to stop it." Five interjects

"War? Men will always be at war with each other." Reginald replies

"No, this isn't just some war. I'm talking about a doomsday. The end of the world." Five elaborates  
  
"Well, you're the special ones, aren't you? Why don't you band together and do something about it?" Reginald suggests

You all stare at Reginald but as you do you hear Ben yell out,  
  
"All right. Screw it."

Ben then runs and jumps into Klaus' body causing his arms to go up in the air and his body to start shaking. He was possessing him. You had no words for the given situation but the others did.  
  
"Is he having a seizure?" Allison wonders  
  
"Overdosing probably," Diego suggests  
  
"Should we do something?" Luther questions

"Klaus! Now is not the time. What are you doing?" Five questions

Klaus, or rather Klaus' body turns towards Reginald. It looked like a struggle though. 

"I'm..." Klaus' voice says  
  
"Out with it, boy." Reginald commands  
  
"...Ben!" His voice forces out

Immediately after he falls to the ground and starts gasping for air. You can see Ben's passed-out figure next to him. Reginald looks on disgusted before stacking his papers and commenting,  
  
"Well...thank you for coming. I've seen about enough."

Reginald then gets up and starts to walk away from the table but Luther slams his hands down, stands up, and rips his shirt open exclaiming,

"Look at what you did to me. Look at it!"  
  
"Oh, shit. Why?" Five complains as slouches back in his chair

How did his siblings manage to completely mess up everything again, like it was the only thing they knew how to do. Downing more of your drink to deal with the progressively awkward nature of the situation you stood next to your boyfriend's side. Five reached up and took your hand in his. If none of his siblings were going to support him at least he knew he had you. Reginald looks at the scene before him before turning to Five and asking,  
  
"You in the culottes. A word, in private?"

He then walks away from the table and goes to sit over at the bar. You and Five look at each other as the rest of his siblings make their way to the elevator to leave. As Diego passes you let go of Five's hand and grave Diego's wrist stopping him in his tracks. He turns towards you and you can tell he was still upset from what transpired earlier. Without saying another word you bring him into a hug. No matter how upset you were at his actions you weren't going to place that above your love for your brother. Diego held you tightly, you were the only one who stood up for him when his father was beating him down. You were the best sister he could've asked for. From the elevator, Luther can be heard calling,

"Diego let's go."

Diego pulls back from the hug and looks at you once more before silently turning and leaving. You hear the sound of the elevator door close and all that is left is you, Five, and Reginald. You turn to Five who is getting up to head over to talk at the bar and he turns to you. 

"Just give us a moment." Five states

"Are you sure? I can pretend to leave and stay." You suggest

"No, darling. I need to do this myself." Five replies

You look at him softly and bring a hand up to his cheek. He places his hand on top of yours holding it in place as he gives a kiss to your palm. He then closes your hand up into a ball before gently holding it on the space above his heart. 

"I'll meet you down in the lobby." Five says quietly

"Okay." You whisper back

Five lets go of your hand and the two of you split, him walking over to Reginald at the bar and you walking toward the main elevator. As you press the button to call the elevator up you hear Reginald call out behind you,

"(Y/N) I expect you home promptly."

You let out a huff as you turn to face him.

"Fine...just don't get mom involved in this. She's already gone through so much with me." you softly ask of him

"I will not get your mother involved. Not even I want to place that stress on her." Reginald responds 

"Good." You say nodding your head, a far-off look in your eyes "...good."

The doors to the elevator open and you reluctantly enter it. You press the button to the lobby floor and as the doors close the last thing you see is Five taking his seat next to Reginald. You hoped he would be okay being in front of him without you. 

"You seem to be the sensible one, or as described, the most competent of the bunch." Reginald comments

"That's because I'm the oldest. You know, technically, I'm older than you right now."

Reginald looks at him slightly confused but when a bartender appears and places a bottle of brandy on the counter he offers,

"Cognac?"  
  
"Just a smidge." Five says with a half-smile  
  
"The other night you quoted Homer at me. Why?" Reginald questions  
  
"You forced us all to learn it as kids. In the original Greek, no less."  
  
"You know, your dear companion called my coworker and ignorant ass in ancient greek the first time I encountered her." Reginald states

"Sounds about right. She has a sharp tongue and an independent mind, I admire it." Five explains, an amused smirk rising to his face as he thought of you. 

Reginald slides him a glass of cognac and the two of them give silent cheers before taking a sip. Five places his glass down and his tone changes to a more serious one,

"This world ends in five days if we don't get out of the timeline."

"Worlds end. Paleozoic, Jurassic, and so on."   
  
"We can do something about this one." Five states  
  
"Man's greatest flaw: the illusion of control." Reginald retorts  
  
"I need your help. All right? You're my last sane option. Otherwise, I gotta make a deal that I really don't wanna make. What do you know about time travel?"  
  
"In theory?" Reginald asks

"In practice."  
  
"I know it's akin to descending blindly into the depths of freezing waters and reappearing-" Reginald starts

"As an acorn. Yeah." Five finishes unenthused  
  
"What transpired when you tried traveling before?"  
  
"I botched it. Big time." Five complains

"How?"  
  
"I jumped too far forward in time. Accidentally brought (Y/N) with me and she got stuck 11 years in the future. Then I jumped without her and got stuck in an apocalypse for 45 years. Then I jumped too far backward, except this time I brought everyone with me."  
  
"Maybe your appetite is disproportionate to the size of your abilities. Start small. Seconds, not decades." Reginald suggests  
  
"Seconds? Look, no offense, but I need a bit more time for what I'm trying to accomplish." Five remarks  
  
"So much can change in a matter of seconds. One could overthrow an empire." Reginald starts before pausing for a second "One could fall in love. An acorn doesn't become an oak overnight."

"I was really hoping you had more than that." Five admits  
  
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help." Reginald apologizes  
  
"I'm sorry, too. I gave you such a hard time as a kid. I didn't know any better." 

Reginald looks over at Five before raising his glass and saying,  
  
"No skin off my teeth, old man."

The two of them sit in silence and when Five finishes his drink he gets up and leaves. Taking the elevator down he finds you in the lobby. When the doors open you quickly make your way over to him and wrap your arms around his neck pulling him into a hug. Five holds you close but pulls back to look at you. Something was off about him.

"Did everything go okay?" You asked

Five looks away from you and off in the distance.

"Yes but..."

"But what?" you inquire softly

Five lets out a sigh and looks back at you. This was not the situation he wanted to be in at all. In a solemn tone, he answers,

"If I'm going to get us out of this timeline I need to go make deal with the devil."

"Well then, you lead the way and I'll follow you out." you reply "Just promise me something."

"Anything." 

"Don't turn around until you're sure we're all in the clear." you respond

Five pressed his forehead against yours as he held you close. 

"Of course my love." he whispered

You tilted your head up towards his and place a soft peck on his lips before stepping away.

"I'll see you soon," you said

Five quietly nodded his head in response and with that he flashed away to go play some jazz with the devil in hell.


End file.
